Report analyzes state of education in Pennsylvania

(WHTM) – The Pennsylvania School Boards Association released its 2025 State of Education report. For the third year in a row, the biggest challenges school leaders face include continued mental health needs, budget pressures, and staffing shortages. More specifically, special education teachers.

“This is something that we hear anecdotally from our members. These positions are very difficult to fill,” said Chris Lilienthal, Pennsylvania State Education Association Communications.

“Currently we have five teacher vacancies. Most of those are special education teachers, but we also have vacancies for para educators who support those special ed teachers in the classroom,” said Dr. Tamara Willis, Susquehanna Township School District Superintendent.

There’s a rising demand for students needing extra support.

“For the third year in a row, we’ve experienced an increase, almost double the number of students that are coming into kindergarten who need early intervention services,” said Dr. Willis.

President Trump wants to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Lilienthal says a big portion of that money supports special education services for students.

“You know at a time when we’re seeing a rising demand for these services and more students in need of these services and the cost are rising, those investments are critically important,” said Lilienthal.  

Also in the report, more than 80% of school districts say they’re having trouble hiring qualified mental health care providers.

“As a school district, we cannot meet all the mental health needs that we have currently so we’re partnering with outside organizations,” said Dr. Willis.

“Governor Josh Shapiro working with lawmakers from both parties has recognized this. There’s been a real strong push for investing in school counselors, nurses, other mental health care providers. But more work needs to be done and that’s certainly reflected in this report,” said Lilienthal. Another key finding in the report is more than 77% of school districts reported having at least one school building in need of repair or replacement. Plus, for the 6^th year in a row, mandatory Charter School tuition payments were the top source of budget pressure.