Shapiro's budget gives Pa. teachers and students more of the tools they need to succeed

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, an annual celebration of the role models who shape young minds and create big dreams in classrooms across the nation.

Learners have expressed their thanks through cards, gifts, handmade crafts, and words of gratitude. While those offerings are a great way to thank a teacher, the best way we can show our appreciation is by providing them with the resources and supports they need each day, well beyond the end of this week.

Pennsylvania, like many other states, has spent years underinvesting in public education — at all levels — and the result of that inaction has left a blight on our schools and communities.

Educators are overworked and stressed, are wearing too many hats, and are leaving the profession at rates never seen before. The future educator pipeline, once a robust stream, has slowed considerably. Research has long proven that access to early childhood education plays a significant role in future achievement, yet the commonwealth's early learning programs are struggling with their own workforce shortage.

Students and educators alike are expressing a need for more mental health supports in schools, and funding to address structural deficiencies that make classrooms unhealthy, and sometimes even dangerous.

The best way to show our appreciation for teachers is to invest in them and make teachers and students have the tools and resources they need to be successful.

The Shapiro Administration has made great strides with historic increases in basic education funding, delivering universal free breakfast in our schools, investing in mental health support for students and school communities, investing in grants for paraprofessionals to become special educators and creating a new pathway for students in career and technical education programs to enter education. We created an innovative new program to support student teachers with stipends — and demand for that funding far exceeded the amount available.

Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education recently opened the application window for $75 million in grant funding for school environmental repairs. Despite this progress, we still have work to do.

In his 2024-25 budget proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro has re-upped his commitment to helping students get the support they need to thrive in school and beyond. The budget proposal builds on last year's progress to ensure all Pennsylvania children can chart their own course and have the opportunity to succeed by investing in our public schools, teachers, and facilities. Through an historic $1.1 billion increase in basic education funding, schools will receive the largest investment in Pennsylvania history.

Gov. Shapiro's budget also includes $300 million for school environmental repairs, $100 million for mental health supports in schools, a $50 million increase for special education funding, a $50 million annual investment in school safety and security improvements, $30 million for the Pre-K Counts program, $2.7 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, and a $17 million increase for Early Intervention.

To recruit and retain educators, the governor is also asking for $10 million for the Educator Talent Recruitment Account, $5 million to increase funding for student teacher stipends, and $5 million for educator professional development.

We must continue to provide students with the means to access career pathways and close our workforce gaps. Currently, the gap stands at 61,000 open jobs seeking skilled workers and that gap will only widen over time. What's more, as college continues to grow more expensive, enrollment is dropping, and college attainment rates are below the national average in 56 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. Many counties have little access to affordable higher education options resulting in low college-attendance rates.

To connect today's students with tomorrow's job opportunities, we need to give them access to affordable options after high school. To do that, we need to properly invest in our commonwealth's postsecondary institutions.

That's why in his blueprint for higher education, Gov. Shapiro proposes to invest $975 million in our community colleges and PASSHE universities, a 15% increase in the amount of funding those institutions received last year.

We know that not all students will choose to go directly to college right after high school, and some may never wish to attend a postsecondary institution at all. Some will decide to go into a trade, or start their own business, or enter the military. Some may circle back for a college credential later in life when they want to continue their education or switch careers. No matter which path a student takes now, we should ensure that no doors are closed to them in the future.

So this week, make sure your children are thanking their teachers with a heartfelt note, a hug, or a coffee mug. But if you want to show your appreciation, consider asking your lawmaker to support a budget that fully invests in education, from pre-K to postsecondary, because that's the gift that will keep giving for generations to come.

Dr. Khalid N. Mumin is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: The best way to appreciate Pa. teachers? Invest in education.