WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe this week announced that Pennsylvania has officially joined the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC) — a multi-state agreement designed to make it easier for licensed, qualified teachers to move between states and get quickly back to work in the classroom — opening up a new avenue to strengthen Pennsylvania’s teacher pipeline and help schools hire experienced teachers.

“Joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact complements the educator workforce efforts we’ve undertaken over the past three years, and will help Pennsylvania grow its educator workforce by creating new opportunities for current and future teachers,” said Rowe.

The ITMC allows educators who hold eligible licenses in member states to obtain equivalent certification more efficiently in another member state. The ITMC is intended to reduce barriers for qualified educators, particularly those in military families, and to help states address persistent educator shortages.

Joining the ITMC helps member states expand their educator pipeline by lowering administrative barriers for out-of-state teachers and increasing the pool of qualified applicants for Pennsylvania schools, particularly in hard-to-staff subject areas and regions. It also supports military families by reducing licensure barriers for military spouses, reinforcing Pennsylvania’s commitment to workforce participation and family stability.

To tackle Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage, the Shapiro administration has:

• Reduced teacher certification processing times by more than 10 weeks.

• Made experience-based certificates free to aspiring educators. Experience-based certificates are an alternative to emergency permits and provide new teachers with both mentorship and a pathway to a highly valuable permanent teaching credential.

• Created a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Education program for high school students. The new CTE program has also shown promise in helping students earn industry-recognized credentials before graduating from high school.

• Created and expanded the Student Teacher Support Program to provide a stipend to student teachers. The Student Teacher Support Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, provides stipends to eligible student teachers in Pennsylvania to ensure student teachers are compensated for their hard work.

• Made it easier for Pennsylvanians to find jobs in education. In 2025, PDE launched the newly refreshed Teach in PA website to help individuals interested in obtaining a career in education more easily find relevant job opportunities.

• Launched a first-of-its-kind teacher apprenticeship program partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Labor & Industry (L&I). A $7.76 million investment in grants to 16 organizations throughout Pennsylvania to start their own earn-as-you-learn teacher apprenticeship programs was announced.

Sen. Baker: Pa. has new tools to solve violent crimes

Law enforcement agencies will be able to access new tools to boost clearance rates for homicide and other violent crime cases through a new state law, according to Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, who supported the measure.

Baker said the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods (VICTIM) Act was enacted as part of the new state budget. She said the law establishes a grant program administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to help police hire and retain detectives and investigators, and upgrade technology used to analyze evidence.

“Solving more violent crimes will help make communities safer by getting offenders off the streets while also serving as a deterrent to would-be criminals who know their crimes will not go unanswered,” Baker said.

Rep. Meuser co-sponsors legislation to improve transparency around improper payments and taxpayer fraud

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, this week co-sponsored H.R. 1771 — the Improper Payments Transparency Act — bipartisan legislation that would increase transparency and accuracy in improper payment reporting to reduce waste and fraud within federal programs.

Meuser said the public’s awareness of improper payments has increased as the Trump administration moves to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse.

This year, Meuser said the White House formed the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which has identified $230 billion in fraud and halted $36 billion in fraudulent payments.

Just this week, Meuser said the task force was in Philadelphia, where 19 defendants were charged with defrauding the Commonwealth Medicaid program out of $4 million.

To further strengthen the administration’s efforts to combat widespread fraud, Meuser said Vice President Vance invited him to join this week’s roundtable with task force members to discuss additional legislative action needed to crack down on taxpayer fraud.

Meuser said the Improper Payments Transparency Act further requires federal agencies to identify corrective actions that remain incomplete, ensuring that these executive agencies and programs identify unfinished fraud prevention measures.

“Federal agencies must be monitoring improper payment data to reduce wasteful and fraudulent spending,” said Meuser. “As the Trump administration continues to expose waste, fraud, and abuse through the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, Congress must do its part by improving transparency and accountability through legislative action. This bipartisan legislation will help identify patterns of improper payments, require agencies to implement meaningful corrective actions, and strengthen oversight to reduce waste and better safeguard taxpayer dollars.”

The Improper Payments Transparency Act was referred to the House Committee on the Budget for further consideration.

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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.