Pennsylvania State Education Association

Week of 3-21-2022

Inside this issue

• Touch the Future art show celebrates Mideastern Region students’ creativity
• State panel approves key charter and cyber charter school reforms
• Women’s History Month highlight: PSEA ESP Past President Dawn Bandle
• PEARL and Center for Professional Learning
• PSEA Member Benefits spotlight: Contact Fill contact lenses

Art created by students in several schools across Bucks and Montgomery Counties went on display at Montgomery County Community College on Feb. 27. The Touch the Future art show, which is celebrating its 35^th consecutive year, was in person again after the pandemic made that impossible last year. It featured the works of 287 students from 24 local high schools.

“We thank Montgomery County Community College for partnering with us again on this year’s show and we are thrilled to be returning to an in-person event for our artists, parents, and the public,” said Alan Malachowski, president of PSEA’s Mideastern Region. “Last year’s virtual show was wonderful, the platform impressive, but there is something unique and personal about experiencing art in a gallery.”

“Touch the Future” is a tribute to a quote by Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space who perished aboard the space shuttle Challenger. “I touch the future. I teach,” McAuliffe said.

The show is sponsored by PSEA’s Mideastern Region and the Council for the Advancement of Public Schools.

In a victory for charter and cyber charter school reform, a state panel approved a regulation this week that will implement key improvements that PSEA supports, but that the General Assembly has failed to address for nearly two decades.

The regulation, proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, includes reforms for charter and cyber charter schools that will:

• Emphasize accountability, equity, quality, and transparency;
• Establish minimum standards for charter and cyber charter school applications to help ensure non-discriminatory enrollment policies;
• Clarify that charter and cyber charter school boards of trustees are subject to the Ethics Act;
• Require standard fiscal management and auditing practices; and
• Clarify that these schools must offer their employees the same health care benefits as would be offered to employees of school districts that authorized them.

PSEA made it clear that we support these important changes. Stay tuned for updates on this.

Dawn Bandle, a secretary at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, served as PSEA’s region president for education support professionals for a remarkable 24 years. She was well known as the “voice of ESP members,” as the number of ESPs PSEA represents increased from 18,000 to more than 30,000 during her tenure. Dawn retired in 2021 with the gratitude of education support professionals across Pennsylvania.

PEARL

Looking for an easy way to earn Act 48 credits, Chapter 14 verification, or postgraduate credits? Check out PEARL, PSEA's member exclusive online learning system with 95 courses and counting.

Here are just a few courses you have access to:

• Using Kami for Interactive Lessons
• Multi-Sensory Learning Using Arts Integration
• Supporting Students' Anxiety During COVID-19: Strategies for Educators

Webinars

• Danielson Revised: Exploring the 2021 Framework Revisions
  • March 29, 6-7:30 p.m.
• Helping New Teachers Navigate the EdTech World
  • April 6, 5-6:30 p.m.
• Supporting Newly Arrived Immigrants
  • April 13, 5-6:30 p.m.

Book Discussions

• Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys
  
  • April 4, 5-6 p.m.
• Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems
  • April 12, 5-6 p.m.

Member Well-being

• Mindful Mondays
  • March 28, 5-5:45 p.m.

PSEA Member Benefits offers members and their families big savings on brand-name contact lenses through Contact Fill.

Program Benefits:

• Dependable service to your home, school, or office
• Free standard shipping and handling on all orders (use promotion code "PSEA")
• Convenient 24/7 online ordering
• Personable customer service
• No hidden charges
• PSEA members must log in to take advantage of this discount program
• NVA Vision insurance accepted as a form of payment