HARRISBURG, April 27 – State Rep. Ana T. Tiburcio today introduced legislation to help address Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage.

“Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage has reached critical levels, leaving schools across the commonwealth struggling to recruit and retain qualified educators,” said Tiburcio, D-Lehigh. “Last session, a package of bills was added to the school code to remove barriers to teacher certification, enhance flexibility, and expand the pool of individuals eligible to become professional educators. This is significant progress, but we must do more to ensure that our classrooms are staffed with the talented teachers our students deserve.”

House Bill 2436 would redirect all teacher certification fees to be deposited into the state’s Talent Recruitment Account. This would allow the Pennsylvania Department of Education to use funds to offer direct support to teachers and strengthen recruitment and retention efforts.

The Talent Recruitment Account was established in 2022 but never funded. Currently, certification fee revenue is deposited into the state Treasury and included in the commonwealth’s General Appropriations budget.

“House Bill 2436 would direct the recently reduced standard certification fees to the Talent Recruitment Account,” Tiburcio said. “Establishing a dedicated funding stream for this account would be a meaningful step toward addressing the ongoing educator shortage.”

Tiburcio stressed that H.B. 2436 would ensure that every dollar paid by teacher applicants in certification fees will directly support the education profession.

The bill is with the House Education Committee for consideration.

Information provided to TVL by:
Madeline Lylo