Pennsylvania's teacher shortage is getting worse, according to a new study from Penn State.
Just a little more than 4-thousand college students graduated with education degrees last year... compared to some 15-thousand just 8 years ago. That's according to Dr. Ed Fuller from Penn State's College of Education.
"Pennsylvania used to be one of the leading exporters of teachers to other states", he says. "And now we can't produce enough to fill the vacancies in our own state".
And he says for the first time in the state's history, the amount of emergency teaching permits outpaced newly certified teachers.
Emergency permits are granted to long-term subs or people with degrees, but who may not be certified in a certain subject. But Fuller says they're not typically as effective.
"Kids that are taught by teachers on emergency certificates cannot learn as much. They can have greater absenteeism and things like that".
So what can be done to attract more students to the profession?
He says more scholarships for education majors, higher starting wages, and compensation for student teachers would go a long way.