Chicora Elementary School 5th grader Mason MacTaggart gets help from teacher LeeAnn Pfeifer while working on a math problem during the afterschool tutoring program at Chicora Elementary School on April 26.

A teacher shortage could be looming as the number of college graduates getting certified has dropped significantly statewide, but local K-12 and post-secondary schools are finding ways to stay ahead of the storm.

Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education show a drop of more than 70 percent in the number of teaching certificates issued in the past five years.

In 2012-13, the Department of Education issued 18,957 teaching certificates in 49 instructional areas.

By 2016-17, the most recent year for which numbers are available, that dropped to 5,361 teaching certificates issued in 42 instructional areas.

Keith Dils, dean of Slippery Rock University's College of Education, said fewer teachers are being certified because fewer students are choosing education as a major in college. The pipeline from high school is drying up, possibly in part because the teaching profession has been demonized in recent years, he said.

Tracy Vitale, superintendent of Seneca Valley School District, said the increased focus on standardized testing and expectations for teachers to teach children “beyond content” is daunting to high school seniors who are looking for career paths to pursue in their post-secondary lives.

Vitale said. She said first, districts need to show that they value their educators.

“People don't just work for money and benefits,” Vitale said. “We're in a human service industry. People want to feel that they're respected and that they're doing a good job. Here at Seneca Valley they are, but across the state, they're not.”

Read the full story in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.