PSEA is a community of education professionals who make a difference in the lives of students every day.
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Week of 6-22-2020 |
A message from Rich Askey
During the COVID-19 emergency, PSEA’s goal is to support you. Whether we’re providing updates on legislative activity, the latest news that impacts our schools, students, and livelihoods, or resources to help you teach kids in new and innovative ways, we want to do everything we can to help. That’s why we’ll be doing this e-newsletter frequently. I know that this is a tough, stressful time for you, your families, and your students. PSEA wants to make it easier by keeping in touch and offering good, helpful information. So, have a look. And let’s keep connected.
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Inside this issue
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PA Department of Education releases report with predictive modeling on reopening schoolsThe Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic and Mathematica, a social policy research firm, authored a new report prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The report examined current data and research on COVID-19, conducted interviews with public health experts, education leaders, and other stakeholders, and ran predictive modeling of disease transmission under different reopening approaches. The predictive modeling looked at seven different reopening scenarios — the first a “business as usual” baseline, the next three envisioning daily attendance with precautions and changes to the flow of students, and the final three dividing students into groups that alternate between in-person and remote learning to reduce the number people in buildings at once. Those strategies reducing the number of students in school at once were found to be most effective, although the report emphasized that the modeling is imperfect, and that infection spread could vary greatly depending on community infection rates and other factors. The report is intended to help inform school leaders as they create plans to reopen. Read it at ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/midatlantic/pdf/ReopeningPASchools.pdf. |
Share your story about teaching in the time of COVID-19
Tell us about your experience: www.psea.org/covid19stories. |
Let’s keep the pressure on
The U.S. Congress is still in session, and we need to keep telling our U.S. senators that K-12 schools and colleges and universities need $175 billion in federal emergency aid so that we can safely reopen our schools. Please click the link below and urge our senators to support this critical bill.
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Member Benefits: IRA options in the federal CARES Act
The federal CARES Act, which became law on March 27, included several provisions dealing with special distribution options, rollovers plans, and loan repayment options for IRAs. Longtime PSEA Member Benefits provider Kades-Margolis has summarized these important law changes for PSEA members in a short video. Click on the thumbnail above to check out the presentation, and feel free to contact Kades-Margolis with questions or for retirement advice. |
PSEA’s Center for Professional Learning: Summer Learning Series
Here’s what we’ve got coming up to keep you earning Act48/Chapter 14 hours through the summer, including the newly introduced Wellness Wednesdays series: Wellness Wednesdays:
Webinars:
Act 48 Book Discussions
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Check out PSEA’s COVID-19 resourcesPSEA is committed to providing members with the most up-to-date information and resources on the COVID-19 emergency. We want to help you cope with this unprecedented challenge, and we want to make sure you have the tools you need to help your students. Be sure to visit www.psea.org/covid19 regularly. We update the information you’ll find there daily. Here are a few things you’ll find.
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This content is intended for PSEA members and their immediate families. |
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