Latest news with #Lilienthal
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania struggling to fill classrooms with teachers, organizations look to assist
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Filling classrooms with teachers in Pennsylvania is becoming more difficult every year, and many organizations are stepping up to try and fill vacancies. One organization is the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). The PSEA represents 178,000 education professionals in Pennsylvania. Assistant Director of Communications Chris Lilienthal said the amount of decline in new teachers is a crisis. 'Since 2012-13, Pennsylvania has seen a 65% decline in the number of new teacher certificates issued in the state,' Lilienthal said. With so many open positions and the low number of individuals attempting to get certificates, the Commonwealth has issued emergency permits so that classrooms are filled. Emergency permit numbers surged to fill classroom vacancies, rising by 660 to reach 8,747 last school year. The permits are filled by college-educated workers who don't have an education degree or are certified in a different subject area than what they were hired to teach. An independent analysis of state data performed by Ed Fuller, director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Analysis in the Educational Leadership Program at Penn State University, showed 8,885 teachers leaving the profession in 2024-25, up by 559 compared to the year before. The PSEA introduced Educators Rising, a program that offers classroom-ready curriculum, training, and support to high school students looking to become educators. 'We're bringing a curriculum into dozens of high schools across the state, introducing kids while they're still in high school to what a career in public education would look like,' Lilienthal said. At the college level, a student teaching stipend gives student teachers $10,000. Part of the program keeps the teacher in Pennsylvania for at least three years. 'As we continue with that program, we're going to see more and more people coming into our teacher pipeline who are going to stay in Pennsylvania,' Lilienthal said. We're also told that the PSEA is attempting to push for legislation that would change the base salary for teachers in the Commonwealth. The last time the base salary was changed was over 30 years ago, and it was set at $18,500. The proposed change would be a minimum of $60,000. 'This is something where we really need to make sure that we're paying our teachers competitively so that we can recruit and retain the best and brightest into our classrooms,' Lilienthal said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Report analyzes state of education in Pennsylvania
(WHTM) – The Pennsylvania School Boards Association released its 2025 State of Education report. For the third year in a row, the biggest challenges school leaders face include continued mental health needs, budget pressures, and staffing shortages. More specifically, special education teachers. 'This is something that we hear anecdotally from our members. These positions are very difficult to fill,' said Chris Lilienthal, Pennsylvania State Education Association Communications. 'Currently we have five teacher vacancies. Most of those are special education teachers, but we also have vacancies for para educators who support those special ed teachers in the classroom,' said Dr. Tamara Willis, Susquehanna Township School District Superintendent. There's a rising demand for students needing extra support. 'For the third year in a row, we've experienced an increase, almost double the number of students that are coming into kindergarten who need early intervention services,' said Dr. Willis. President Trump wants to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Lilienthal says a big portion of that money supports special education services for students. 'You know at a time when we're seeing a rising demand for these services and more students in need of these services and the cost are rising, those investments are critically important,' said Lilienthal. Also in the report, more than 80% of school districts say they're having trouble hiring qualified mental health care providers. 'As a school district, we cannot meet all the mental health needs that we have currently so we're partnering with outside organizations,' said Dr. Willis. 'Governor Josh Shapiro working with lawmakers from both parties has recognized this. There's been a real strong push for investing in school counselors, nurses, other mental health care providers. But more work needs to be done and that's certainly reflected in this report,' said Lilienthal. Another key finding in the report is more than 77% of school districts reported having at least one school building in need of repair or replacement. Plus, for the 6th year in a row, mandatory Charter School tuition payments were the top source of budget pressure. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Troubled Volksbühne Theater Announces Another New Director
Berlin city officials announced Friday that the theater maker Matthias Lilienthal would take over leadership of the Volksbühne, one of Europe's most influential playhouses. Lilienthal is an established figure in German theater, having previously led major institutions in Berlin and Munich. He is set to take up the role in 2026, with a contract until 2031. At a news conference, Lilienthal announced plans to expand the theater's dance offering. He also said he planned to feature a slate of works by international directors — a decision he described as 'a conscious resistance' to rising nationalism in Germany. 'Hopefully it is a joyful resistance,' he added. Many theater lovers are hoping that Lilienthal's appointment marks the end of a prolonged period of turmoil at the Volksbühne, which has long been known for its formally daring and politically provocative works. But in recent years, the theater has been plagued by scandal and tragedy, as well as vicious conflicts about its creative direction that have mirrored broader debates about Berlin's identity. Lilienthal is no stranger to the Volksbühne. He served as its chief dramaturg in the 1990s, when it was led by Frank Castorf, a towering figure in German theater. It was Castorf, the Volksbühne's director from 1992 to 2017, who put the playhouse on the international map and established its reputation for high-minded, no-holds-barred performance. Castorf, who grew up in the former East Germany, drew widespread acclaim for his Marxist reworking of literary classics like 'The Brothers Karamazov' and 'The Master Builder,' which could last up to seven hours. The theater has cycled through directors since Castorf left in 2017. His successor, Chris Dercon, a former director of the Tate Modern museum in London, drew scorn from many in the German theater world after he refocused the Volksbühne away from in-house works performed by a staff ensemble and toward visiting international productions. For many observers, Dercon's decision was a betrayal of the theater's political roots and a flashpoint for a broader debate about how to preserve Berlin's countercultural ethos in the face of gentrification and globalization. Critics and activists complained that Dercon was turning the Volksbühne into a theater geared toward tourists, and the conflict grew so heated that feces were left in front of Dercon's office door. At one point, activists occupied the playhouse for days. Dercon resigned after only six months, but the turbulence at the theater has continued. Klaus Dörr, the theater's next director, resigned in 2021 after female co-workers accused him of sexual misconduct, including claims of inappropriate touching and text messages. In his departure statement, Dörr said: 'I take full responsibility for the accusations against me.' René Pollesch, Dörr's successor, died unexpectedly in February. Pollesch, a respected playwright and longtime associate of Castorf's, had drawn praise for his democratic approach to the job. Writing in Die Zeit newspaper, the critic Peter Kümmel argued that Pollesch had 'managed to make the Volksbühne attractive to audiences again.' Pollesch was applauded for many of his creative choices, including signing a deal with Florentina Holzinger — a high-profile Austrian performance artist known for creating outrageous spectacles featuring naked performers — to create original works for the theater. (One of Holzinger's pieces, 'Tanz' has a short run at the Skirball Center in New York next week.) At Friday's news conference, Berlin's culture senator, Joe Chialo, announced that Holzinger will have a formal advisory role at the theater, together with the Cape Verdean choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas. Lilienthal also inherits some practical challenges. Berlin's government implemented drastic cuts in January, slashing 130 million euros, around $135 million, from the municipal culture budget. The cuts have left a €2-million gap in the Volksbühne budget and this week the theater announced it would to cut one production set to premiere this year and another in the next season. 'I strongly disapprove of the cut in the Volksbühne's budget,' Lilienthal told reporters on Friday. 'We will see what the next five years bring.'
