Pennsylvania State Education Association

Week of 8-4-2025

Inside this issue

• Critical Alert: Tell your state senator to stop using our students and schools as political pawns
• Check the status of your federal student loan
• 2025 National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson on “PA Newsmakers”
• PEARL & Center for Professional Learning – summer series
• Member Benefits spotlight: Save up to 53% on Hersheypark tickets

Earlier this week, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward admitted that Senate Republicans are holding up Pennsylvania's FY 2025-26 state budget to try to advance a new school voucher scheme that would send public tax dollars to unaccountable private and religious schools.

Meanwhile public schools, where nearly 90 percent of Pennsylvania's students learn, have already missed their July payments from the state and are set to miss their next payment in just a matter of days. That means NO NEW FUNDING will be coming to our schools at the start of the 2025-26 school year.

Here's what you need to know:

• The Pennsylvania FY 2025-26 state budget is more than a month late.
• The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recently announced that no new funding will be sent to schools until a state budget is finalized.
• In a radio interview this week, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward said that school vouchers are a "sticking point."
• Ward further said that if Democrats refuse to agree to her demands for school vouchers, the state should simply give up and adopt a stop gap budget that would leave our students and schools without the resources they need.
• If the stop gap budget is adopted, it will result in no increase to basic education funding and would strain most Pennsylvania schools.

We need to stop these Senate leaders from using our students and schools as political pawns. Contact your state senator RIGHT NOW, and demand that our schools and students are not used as bargaining chips.

If you have a student loan, we encourage you to check with your provider to see if changes in the federal reconciliation bill or other recent Trump administration actions have impacted your payments.

Due to recent court action, borrowers in the Biden era SAVE plan have been placed in a general forbearance status (unless they have obtained another status, such as deferment). If you are enrolled in the SAVE plan and are working towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), you should carefully review the Federal Student Aid Office’s explanation of the impact of this forbearance and your options for receiving PSLF credit.

In the meantime, beginning Aug. 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education restarted student loan interest charges for the nearly 8 million borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan. The Student Borrower Protection Center estimates that this policy change will cost the typical borrower more than $3,500 per year in interest charges.

By Aug. 1, 2028, the reconciliation law will also force current borrowers enrolled in SAVE and other income contingent repayment plans to switch to a new plan that could end up costing borrowers more over the life of their loans.

2025 National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson on “PA Newsmakers”

On the latest episode of “PA Newsmakers,” PSEA President Aaron Chapin sat down with 2025 National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson to talk about her story and message to educators and the public. PSEA Assistant Director of Education Services Dr. Chris Clayton also joined Aaron to talk about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on teachers, students, and our communities.

You can watch the full episode online at www.newsmakerstv.com.

PEARL

Visit the new, improved PEARL today and choose from more than 95 asynchronous courses available for Act 48 credit and Chapter 14 verification.

You can find multiple courses that interest you in any of these tracks: 

• Book Studies
• Educational Equity
• Pedagogy
• Policy
• Pupil Services
• Special Populations
• Technology in Education
• SEL & Wellness

Webinars

• Cracking the IEP Code: Empowering Regular Ed Teachers for Student Success!
  • Aug. 12, 7-8:30 p.m.
• Tools, Strategies, and Resources to Help New and Early Career Educators Prepare for the Start of the New School Year
  • Aug. 13, 7-8:30 p.m.
• Back to School Open Chat
  • Aug. 14, 7-8 p.m.

Postgraduate Credits

Earn postgraduate credits from PennWest University for $70 each!

More than 150 postgraduate credits are available across a wide range of teaching and learning topics.

These postgraduate credits (micro-credentials) can count toward the 24 credits required for a Level II certificate and also may count toward salary advancement.*

For support professionals, these courses may meet Chapter 14 requirements.**

*Check your contract to determine if you can apply standalone postgraduate credits for column movement.
**Seek approval from your employer prior to completing hours to apply toward Chapter 14 requirements.

Hersheypark has thrills for everyone!

Enjoy rides on our 15 iconic coasters, splashes in our expansive water park, and strolls through our 11‑acre zoo with just one admission ticket. Plus, visit us this year to ride the tallest screamin’ swing in the world, Twizzlers Twisted Gravity!

The Boardwalk at Hersheypark

Whether you’re looking to cool down or catch some rays, the Boardwalk at Hersheypark water park has something for everyone — and is included in every ticket! Grab a lounge chair and enjoy the sunshine, relax around the Lazy River, or race down the thrilling water slides. The water park is open Memorial Day through Labor Day.

GET TICKETS

Twizzlers Twisted Gravity Ride is Now Open as the World’s Tallest Screamin’ Swing

Manufactured by S&S Worldwide, the high-thrill pendulum attraction features:

• Maximum height of 137 feet
• Maximum speed of 68 miles per hour
• Multiple Zero G moments

The all-new Twizzlers-inspired adventure is the newest candy to join the iconic Hersheypark skyline.

Guests will experience never-before-seen views as they swing high above Spring Creek in The Hollow region of Hersheypark.

One of more than 70 rides at Hersheypark, Twizzlers Twisted Gravity provides gravity-defying thrills and expand upon uniquely Hershey-branded attractions within the largest amusement park in Pennsylvania.

GET TICKETS