For years, school districts have faced a decreasing roster of teachers to fill local classrooms, while graduating students continue to leave the area.

However, a proposed program under discussion — the Aspiring Educator Pathway — could help solve both of those problems, said Tony Miller, administrative director of the Mercer County Career Center.

“I think all of our superintendents understand the pool for qualified candidates has gotten smaller,” Miller said.

“This pathway could help us make sure we’re filling empty positions with good, quality educators, and it’s certainly a pathway to get kids employed locally.”

The Aspiring Educator Pathway was first released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education about a year ago.

If implemented, the program would feature some classroom instruction, where students would learn the theory and methodology of teaching. Students would then receive firsthand experience working in a classroom, Miller said.

Although the Aspiring Educator Pathway would focus on education, Miller said the program would follow a similar structure as the career center’s other pathways, where students must complete a series of tasks set by the pathway’s field or industry.

While a pathway involving the trades would prepare a student to get started at the entry level, the Aspiring Educator Pathway would instead prepare the student for their post-secondary education.

“In Pennsylvania, you can go to college to get an education degree and then specialize from there,” Miller said.

Any students who complete the Aspiring Educator Pathway would graduate with up to a dozen college credits, which is why the career center must have an agreement in place with the area’s local post-secondary institutions before officially starting the program.

So far, there have been discussions with the career center’s Joint Operating Committee, which includes representatives of school districts in the county, while outreach to the area’s colleges and universities is ongoing, Miller said.

“We’re still in the very early stages of this, but if we can get local kids engaged, and get them in the colleges here and then employed here, that makes the community stronger over time,” Miller said.

Depending on how quickly colleges and universities opt into the program, Miller said the program could be piloted this fall. If not, the program could be ongoing by the fall of the 2025-26 school year.

Implementing the program should only require hiring a qualified instructor, with a local high school hosting the program, Miller said.

Mercer Area School District could participate in the program. Superintendent Dr. Ronald Rowe Jr. said all of the district’s teaching positions are filled — although the applicant pool has gotten smaller over the last several years.

Rowe said Mercer already has multiple courses that give college credits through agreements with several universities, and that the Aspiring Educator Pathway could “only benefit” local school districts.

“I certainly don’t see any drawbacks to this, especially since we would be getting more students into the teacher pipeline,” Rowe said.

Rowe also credited officials at the Mercer County Career Center for pursuing the program and encouraged local colleges to consider participating.

“I think Miller and the center’s Joint Operating Committee have done a great job of adapting their programs to the community’s economic needs,” Rowe said.

Superintendent Raymond Omer, who serves both West Middlesex and Reynolds school districts through a shared services agreement, agreed that the program would benefit not only school districts, but students who could cut college costs by earning credits before graduation.

“The biggest benefit to this is that we can start identifying these kids in high school that have an interest in education, and get them started on a pathway and give them those foundations to foster a successful college experience,” Omer said.

Omer said the program could build on successful relationships already established between local school districts and the area’s colleges, which serve both high school students preparing for college and college graduates who need student teaching experience.

“These colleges understand our school systems and the level of education we’re providing, so they know their candidates are going to get a good experience with us,” Omer said.

At Sharpsville Area School District, Superintendent John Vannoy said the program could be implemented “rather easily” and would help high school students with a passion for education and a desire to serve their community.

Vannoy said the district already has a good track record with accepting student teachers, including some high school graduates who returned to their community after college — something that could only be increased through the proposed program.

“I think as educators, it’s our way to pay it forward by giving the next generation of teachers a chance, because at some point someone gave us our first chance,” Vannoy said.

“When I was a student teacher getting my first experience in a classroom, I split that year between student teaching in Sharpsville and Sharon, and those ended up being the two districts I’ve worked in.”

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