Week of 2-6-2023

Inside this issue

• Member Benefits spotlight: Boscov’s Travel
• Voice preview: Building community for English learners
• Commonwealth Court decision: PA’s school funding system is unconstitutional
• Involving PSEA’s BIPOC and ethnic minority members
• Upcoming Center for Professional Learning events and PEARL

Member Benefits spotlight: Boscov’s Travel

As a PSEA Member Benefits partner, Boscov’s Travel has many perks and benefits just for you when you book your next vacation. The company’s local, knowledgeable advisors are ready to help you plan your dream vacation – whether it's a cruise, an all-inclusive island resort, U.S. or global land tours, or Disney and Orlando amusement destinations.

In business for over 46 years, Boscov’s brings its experience and knowledge to you.

Now more than ever, using a professional travel advisor has never been more valuable. As a PSEA member, you get exclusive discounts that can be bundled with the best national offers. Yet another perk – book your travel with your Boscov’s credit card and enjoy 12 months interest-free financing!

The February issue of Voice is headed to your mailbox. On the cover you’ll find a story about Andrea Bitner, an English language learner teacher at the Interboro School District who recently received a PSEA Innovative Teaching Grant to help her in her efforts to build a stronger community of English learners throughout her school, district, and community.

The video above features Andrea and her EL colleagues talking about how they’re using that grant money to arrange districtwide field trips with their students. You can get an early preview of the entire cover story at the link below.

This week, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court issued a decision in a landmark school funding case that has been moving through the courts for years, finding that our state’s school funding system is unconstitutional.

While the decision does not include specific directives to guide the General Assembly in developing a new system or impose a timeline for when this should be done, it is likely to have a long-term impact on our public education system.

Pennsylvania has made significant progress in increasing support for public education over the past eight years, but the court’s decision makes it clear that we have more work to do.

PSEA looks forward to working with everyone involved in this important process and achieving a goal that will help every public school student in Pennsylvania access the power of a great education. 

At its December 2022 meeting, the board of directors approved a plan required by NEA Bylaw 3.1(g) aimed at encouraging ethnic minority members to actively participate in PSEA. A major goal is to encourage states to send a percentage of delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly who reflect the percentage of ethnic minorities in the general population of each state.

Treasurer Jeff Ney worked with a task force of members to draft the plan, and the Minority Affairs Committee works all year with region governance and staff to encourage ethnic minority members to actively participate in PSEA. For information on NEA’s and PSEA’s diversity outreach efforts and conferences, click the button below.

The PSEA Helpdesk fields a lot of calls throughout the year from members looking for info on their pensions. This time of year, traffic picks up considerably with many people trying to track down their 1099 forms. However, PSEA does not have access to your PSERS information or documents.  

If you are looking for a 1099-R form, contact info, or anything else related to your pension, you can log in to your PSERS Member Self-Service (MSS) Portal here or contact PSERS directly at contactPSERS@pa.gov or 1.888.773.7748 for further assistance.

If you’re having trouble logging in to the MSS Portal, here is a pdf explaining how to do that.

PEARL

Looking for a convenient and flexible way to earn Act 48 credits, Chapter 14 verification, or postgraduate credits? As a PSEA member, you have exclusive access to over 95 courses through PEARL.

Here are just three of the courses you have access to:

• Phenomena-Centered Science in Your (Virtual) Classroom
• Can you Hear Us Now? Using Podcasts to Teach and Entertain
• Seesaw Basics-Advanced

Webinars

• IEPs: The Key to Providing Education Access to Students with Disabilities
  
  • Feb. 15, 6-7:30 p.m.
• Fostering a “Growth Mindset” in the Classroom Today: Shifting the Focus to Growth and Development with Assessment & Grades Rather than Measurement for Sorting & Classification
  
  • March 2, 6-7:30 p.m.
• SPM Workshop: Hands-On Best Practices
  • March 9, 6-7:30 p.m.

Book Discussions

• They Called Us Enemy
  
  • Feb. 21, 6-7 p.m.
• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
  • March 9, 6-7 p.m.
• Before the Ever After
  
  • April 18, 6-7 p.m.

Member Well-being

• Mindful Mondays
  • Feb. 13, 4:45 p.m.
• Mindful Mondays
  • March 13, 4:45 p.m.
• Mindful Mondays
  • April 17, 4:45 p.m.