70+ Local Chambers of Commerce Across PA Urge General Assembly to Invest in Child Care Teacher Recruitment and Retention Effort in Final 2025-2026 Pennsylvania Budget

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa., May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Local chambers of commerce from across Pennsylvania, including the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, submitted a letter to state lawmakers urging them to address Pennsylvania's historic child care teacher shortage. The letter, signed by more than 70 local chambers of commerce and economic development agencies, calls for a state investment that directly helps child care providers recruit and retain their teachers. The letter explains that alleviating the child care workforce shortage means classrooms can remain open or reopen, increasing the availability of child care for the tens of thousands of families that need it to remain in the workforce and contribute to Pennsylvania's overall economy.

As part of his 2025-2026 state budget proposal, Governor Josh Shapiro allocated $55 million in a new and recurring Child Care Recruitment and Retention line item to grant licensed child care providers participating in the child care subsidy program an additional $1,000 per educator.

"Low-wages within the child care sector are fueling a historic teacher shortage, reducing the availability of child care and impacting employers in nearly every other sector across the state," said Robert S. Carl, Jr., President and CEO of the Schuylkill County Chamber of Commerce. "Local chambers of commerce recognize that inadequate child care for working families has a huge negative impact on our local and state economies. That is why we are urging lawmakers to invest in the child care workforce through a statewide recruitment and retention initiative as part of the final budget deal."

Analysis from ReadyNation and the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission has shown that current gaps in our child care system are costing the Commonwealth's economy an estimated $6.65 Billion annually in lost wages, productivity, and tax receipts from working families struggling to find care.

As part of the letter, local chamber leaders point to numerous states that are navigating the child care teacher shortage crisis that is closing programs and driving up waitlists for working families in need of care. At least 18 states are directly investing in recruitment and retention strategies to solve the child care teacher shortage and ensure that child care supply can meet the demand from working families.

Data from the September 2024 Start Strong PA survey of 1,140 child care providers showed more than 3,000 open teacher positions. If those positions were filled, these 1,100+ providers could be serving almost 25,320 more children. This survey only represents roughly 17 percent of licensed providers.

Carl said Schuylkill County has experienced a 20 percent reduction in the number of child care providers since 2019. In a parent survey conducted by the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, 62.5 percent of parents reported being placed on a waiting list. The wait lists range from months to three years.

Noting that child care teachers are the workforce behind the workforce, Carl called a child care recruitment and retention initiative an essential part of an overall economic development strategy for the commonwealth.

SOURCE Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce