Business Leaders, Child Care Providers Join Forces in Call for State Lawmakers to Prioritize Child Care in Final Budget

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Johnstown, PA (August 4, 2025) – Employers recognize that reliable child care is vital to the success of their businesses. That’s why both business leaders and working parents agree: addressing the child care teacher shortage and expanding access to affordable, high-quality child care must be a top priority as lawmakers in Harrisburg work to finalize the state budget. To underscore the urgency, business leaders and child care providers will hold a virtual press conference, calling on the legislature to pass a final budget that tackles the child care teacher shortage head-on.

Child care programs across Pennsylvania are being forced to close classrooms due to a persistent teacher shortage, largely caused by low wages that hinder the recruitment and retention of staff. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has already taken action by passing a proposal to create and fund a child care teacher recruitment and retention initiative—joining at least 18 other states that have implemented similar strategies.

Filling the more than 3,000 vacant child care positions in the Commonwealth could open the door for approximately 25,000 more children to access quality care. This would enable more parents to join or remain in the workforce, strengthening both family well-being and Pennsylvania’s economic growth.

WHAT: Business owners – including child care providers – and representatives from area chambers of commerce will call on the state legislature to pass a final budget that will address Pennsylvania’s child care teacher shortage, allowing classrooms to remain open and parents to stay in the workforce.

WHEN: Wednesday August 6, 2025, from 2:00-3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Virtual via Zoom Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HzvWaWkfR8KsQ3NftEru_A#/registration

WHO:

• Ron Aldom, President & CEO, Somerset County Chamber of Commerce
• Amy Bradley, President & CEO, Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Dan DeBone, President & CEO, Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce
• Stephanie McAdoo, Director, Indi Kids (Indiana County)
• Brie Rice, Program Specialist, JB’s Bright Beginnings (Westmoreland County)
• Christina Saunders, Director of Administration, Judy Early Education Group (Fayette and Westmoreland Counties)
• Sara Sisler, Parent and Director of Curriculum, Environment, and Development, Judy Early Education Group (Fayette County)
• Dr. Leah Spangler, President & CEO, The Learning Lamp and Ignite Education Solutions
• Briana Tomack, President and CEO, Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce

The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high-quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. In 2023, The Learning Lamp and our school-based division Ignite Education Solutions directly served 37,524 children and adults. In addition to our own program locations, we worked with 87 public and private schools in 36 Pennsylvania counties. We also supported 473 child care and community-based youth organizations with free or nearly free shared resources, positively impacting another 44,190 children statewide.

Our programs include: child care and preschool, after-school programs, tutoring, SAT prep, school staffing, alternative education programs for at-risk students, online learning, credit recovery, drug and alcohol prevention programs, and grant writing and project consulting for schools.