Tax incentives won’t solve crises in teaching, nursing and policing
To address the workforce crisis, Gov. Josh Shapiro is proposing a three-year tax incentive, up to $2500 a year, for newly certified, or newto-Pennsylvania, police officers, nurses and teachers. This is a welcome gesture, but it will likely have little effect on employment in these sectors, where deeper structural problems are causing shortages.
In primary and secondary education, there are simply not enough certified teachers entering the workforce, as older cohorts quickly approach retirement. A one-time incentive may help on the margins, but it won’t turn around long-term trends.
Instead, Harrisburg should look to increase teacher pay and, more importantly, lower the costs and barriers to becoming a teacher. The Pennsylvania State Education Association, for instance, has asked the state to set a minimum salary of $60,000 to replace the state’s outdated minimum of $18,500. That would be a nearly 30% increase over the current average starting teacher salary in the commonwealth — perhaps a good goal, but unattainable without radical changes to school funding.
There is more to be done on the other side: reducing costs and barriers. New teaching certificates issued in Pennsylvania have dropped by nearly two-thirds over the last decade, but emergency certificates have proliferated, even outpacing regular certificates in 2020-2021. The state should allow teachers who excel in their emergency service to transition to full certification with minimal red tape. Further, Pennsylvania should follow other states, such as Oklahoma, Michigan and Colorado, in providing a stipend during the required student-teaching phase of certification, so prospective teachers won’t face long periods without income.
In nursing, the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania reports that a third of registered nurse positions in Pennsylvania hospitals are vacant. As in teaching, a one-time tax incentive will be appreciated, but will do little to change a system where the financial payoff struggles to keep up with the costs and barriers to enter the profession — not to mention the challenge of the work itself.
Private sector actors like UPMC has responded with significant investments in their nursing forces, but even massive healthcare organizations face cost pressures. Deeper state incentives to make pursuing nursing education will be needed. West Virginia’s comprehensive package of incentives — including most notably state scholarships for nursing students who commit to practicing in the state — is a good model to follow.
Policing is probably the occupation least likely to be affected by a one-time tax incentive, given its unique rigors and the political and social pressures working against it. The most important action governments can take to make policing a more appealing career is to relieve officers of responsibilities they are neither trained nor equipped to handle, such as mental health crises. Fully funding alternative programs, like social worker coresponder teams, will liberate police to focus on fighting crime — and make joining the force more attractive to young would-be officers.
A three-year tax incentive is a good beginning, but for recruiting and sustaining a workforce in these three essential professions, it’s only that: a beginning.