LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – The teacher shortage has wreaked havoc in Pennsylvania and across the nation, leading Conestoga Valley to increase teacher salaries.

“It’s important to pay teachers at a level that I think recognizes them as the professionals that they are,” Conestoga Valley Superintendent Dr. Daniel Hartman said.

It was an 8-0 unanimous decision to secure a new contract.

“When we looked at our contract, we felt we lagged behind a little bit when it came to starting salary,” Dr. Hartman said. “We needed to make some adjustments in order to get them in a position where we could recruit and retain high quality educators.”

“Teachers are reaching burnout. They have increased demand on them and they don’t earn the same amount of money,” Lauri Lebo, an advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

abc27 Evening Newsletter

The new deal comes with a hefty increase for teachers over the next half decade.

“Our new agreement is a five-year contract that has about a 20% increase over the five years of that contract,” Dr. Hartman said. “[It’s] roughly about 4% a year.”

The starting salary will be bumped up to $63,000 next school year. That’s above the median across the Commonwealth.

“The average starting salary for teachers in Pennsylvania right now is $50,000,” Lebo said. “When you adjust that for inflation, that’s actually 12.5% lower than from 1995-96.”

More educators have packed their bags and left teaching. Conestoga Valley hopes this can entice those to come back and attract future teachers.

“Only one in five of Pennsylvanians would recommend teaching to their children,” Lebo said.

Currently, some teachers are skipping their prep period to help teach other classes due to the district not having enough qualified teachers.

Long term, that can affect children’s learning.

“It definitely has a negative impact on the on the learning environment and on the education system,” Dr. Hartman said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.