Business, nonprofit, and community leaders gathered Thursday at the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce to address a child care teacher shortage that is affecting both the economy and families across the state and called for state investments in teacher recruitment and retention efforts.

Calls for Recruitment and Retention Funding

Trying Together joined the chamber of commerce, local advocates, and representatives from state Sen. Kim Ward’s (R-39th District) office to highlight the results of new state and local surveys that reveal how the teacher shortage – driven by unlivable wages – is forcing child care classrooms to close and leaving working families scrambling to find care.

“Today, we are talking about the child care staffing crisis, a challenge that has reached critical levels and is affecting employers, workers, and families alike,” said Dan DeBone, president and CEO of the chamber of commerce. 

The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce has joined more than 70 state chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to urge the General Assembly to work across the aisle to allocate funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention.

Emily Neff, Trying Together’s director of public policy, said that 83% of the 29 Westmoreland County providers that participated in a September 2024 survey conducted by the Start Strong PA Campaign reported staffing shortages, while 86% reported challenges in recruiting teachers.

“Those programs have 69 unfilled teaching positions, and if those positions were filled, they could serve an additional 747 children in Westmoreland County,” Neff said.

One employer shared that she is trying to help a staff member who is a new mother find child care so she can return to work and fears she might lose the staffer due to the challenges in finding child care. Another employer said that child care is a barrier to effectively covering shift work and has had to change the schedule to meet the needs of employees who cannot find child care.

Of the 1,140 child care providers who took the survey statewide, 92% reported recruitment challenges and 85% said they were struggling with teacher shortages that are leaving more than 3,000 positions unfilled statewide. A total of 25,320 additional children could be served if those positions were filled.

Teacher Shortage Driven by Low Wages

Eva Wood, executive director of Ligonier Valley Learning Center, said that low wages is the primary reason why it is challenging to retain and recruit new teachers.

“The wages for child care teachers are so low that they fail to meet the cost of living in every single county in Pennsylvania,” Wood said. “They are doing some of the most important work in our society – nurturing the next generation. But the reality is that many teachers can find other jobs that require far less specialized skills and pay more an hour, often with benefits. Our Ligonier location had to close the infant and toddler child care program and the Latrobe location just lost six teachers who are moving on to higher paying jobs, some outside of the field.”

The event also spotlighted the “A Day in the Life” project, a partnership between Trying Together, Start Strong PA, and Pre-K for PA. The project shares photos and stories to help the public and lawmakers gain a deeper understanding of the realities facing children, families, and early childhood educators in Pennsylvania. 

Speakers during the press conference also highlighted a March poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research that found that 98% of voters agreed that early childhood education plays an important role in what it takes to lead a healthy and productive life. The poll also found that 83% of respondents supported increasing state funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention.

“New polling data from a March 2025 statewide poll showed overwhelming Pennsylvania voter support for early childhood care and education programs and increased state funding to strengthen and grow these services,” said Hailee B. Roye, Trying Together’s policy and practice manager.

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