Lancaster, PA - Today, Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin visited the School District of Lancaster (SDOL) to learn more about their career and technical education (CTE) programs, including the Educator Rising Program at JP McCaskey High School, which gives high school students the opportunity to build their own teaching skills and practice them by working with local elementary schools. CTE programs like the Educator Rising Program help address teacher workforce shortages by giving students who want to become teachers the tools they need to succeed.
“CTE plays a valuable role in our educational system and gives students the opportunity to explore career paths while still in high school. Many of these programs connect students with professionals and hands-on experience in hundreds of critical industries throughout the Commonwealth – including education,” said Secretary Mumin. “The same kind of hands-on learning and rigorous academic courses that have helped students confidently and successfully enter the workforce in numerous fields in Pennsylvania is also being applied in innovative ways to create our Commonwealth’s future educators.”
Earlier this year, the Shapiro Administration announced that career and technical education entities, including those in school districts and charter schools, could apply to create new programs to prepare students for careers in education. The program is designed to engage and prepare secondary students interested in pursuing education careers and builds on the department’s efforts to recruit and retain more teachers in Pennsylvania.
“We are proud of the range of career and technical education opportunities available to students at McCaskey High School, as well as our collaboration with business leaders to address local workforce shortages,” said McCaskey principal Dr. Justin Reese. “We are pleased to be able to share our work with Secretary Mumin and hope we offer him ideas to take back to Harrisburg and across the Commonwealth.”
Like many other career and technical programs, McCaskey’s Educator Rising Program gives students the opportunity to partner with their local elementary schools to apply their learning in a real-world, hands-on way. Educators Rising at McCaskey offers classroom-ready curriculum, training, and support that help high school students begin their journey to becoming future educators. McCaskey has partnered with Educators Rising to offer this program to all McCaskey students and will create new opportunities for more talented young people to enter the education profession. Currently there are 50 students in the Education track program. At several local elementary schools, the students have the opportunity to perfect student-teaching like activities to experience the practice of teaching.
The 2023-24 commonsense, bipartisan budget delivers on Governor Shapiro’s top priorities to create a stronger economy, safer and healthier communities, and better schools. This budget makes a historic investment in students across the Commonwealth, including $567 million in basic education funding – the largest increase to the Basic Education Funding Formula in Pennsylvania history. It also includes $23.5 million to bring career and technical education back into the classroom, giving every student the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Taj Magruder, tmagruder@pa.gov
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