Week of 7-4-2022

Inside this issue

• State budget includes historic education funding increases
• July Voice preview: How HACC finally got to “union yes”
• PSEA members go above and beyond for their students
• Share your school safety ideas and stories
• Center for Professional Learning and PEARL

This week, Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a state budget that includes more than $1 billion in state funding increases for public schools. It’s the largest increase in education funding in PA history and will make a huge difference in the lives of our state’s 1.7 million students and the educators who serve them.

Gov. Tom Wolf has consistently put public education first since the day he took office. This budget reflects his administration’s focus on improving school safety, increasing access to the availability of mental health services, addressing the educator shortage, and meeting the needs of all students and educators at a critical time as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s a snapshot of the funding increases included in the budget:

Pre-K-12

Higher Education

We were also thrilled to see several key PSEA priorities included as policy initiatives in the omnibus School Code bill that passed along with the budget bill. One of those commits $5 million to a new internship stipend program designed to support school-based mental health professionals (school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses, and school social workers). Currently, prospective DPS professionals are required to complete unpaid internships in schools as part of their postsecondary education. This stipend program will help financially support future professionals and hopefully attract more of them to the field.

We are grateful to Gov. Wolf and the lawmakers who joined him in voting for this historic budget for putting public education first.

As the largest community college system in the commonwealth and the only one without a union, Harrisburg Area Community College had been an organizing target for over 40 years.

After failed campaign attempts and pandemic-related challenges, HACC’s four-decade organizing journey concluded in April when they voted in favor of unionizing with PSEA.

Read HACC’s long organizing timeline in the July issue of Voice, headed to your mailbox now.

PSEA members always go above and beyond for their students no matter what the challenge.

Hear it from Pennsylvania’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, Elizabeth Raff. 

“We must take a moment to honor how teachers are showing up even when the going gets tough. If we learned nothing else over the last two years, it’s that teachers are experts in their craft and will do whatever it takes to ensure that students thrive.”

Sharing your ideas and stories about school safety helps us to identify school safety priorities so we can advocate for them in the General Assembly and throughout state government.

PSEA has always been a leader on school safety issues because PSEA members know what policies work and don’t work in their schools and classrooms.

You can make a difference. Please click the link below to share your school safety ideas and stories with us now.

PEARL

Do you need help earning Act 48 credits, Chapter 14 verification, or postgraduate credits? As a PSEA member, you have exclusive access to easy-to-follow courses and progressions through PEARL.

Here are just a few courses you have access to:

• Getting Started with Google Classroom
• Rethinking Grading
• Social and Emotional Learning is for Us, Too!

Webinars

• Google Workspace + UDL = Learning for All
  • July 13, 4-5:30 p.m.
• Leveling Up your Virtual White Board with MURAL
  • July 20, 4-5:30 p.m.
• Weebly: The Free Website Builder
  • Aug. 3, 9-10:30 a.m.

Book Discussions

• All Learning is Social & Emotional (2-part series)
  • July 12, 10-11 a.m. - Part 1, Chapters 1-4
  • Aug. 11, 10-11 a.m. - Part 2, Chapters 5-7
• Rolling Warrior
  • July 21, 10-11 a.m.

Member Well-being

• Mindful Mondays
  • July 18, 8:30-9:15 a.m.
• Mindful Mondays
  • Aug. 1, 8:30-9:15 a.m.
• Mindful Mondays
  • Aug. 22, 8:30-9:15 a.m.