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HARRISBURG (June 19, 2018) – Dolores McCracken, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, today issued the following statement after the state House Education Committee approved Senate Bill 1142, the proposed “Safe2Say” act aimed at preventing acts of school violence before they occur.
The bill was passed by the state Senate on June 6 by a vote of 49-0. It now moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
“Early intervention is a very important part of preventing tragedies like the recent school shootings in Texas and Florida. This is something that I have heard over and over from educators across the state, and I applaud legislators in the state Senate and House of Representatives for making this a priority.
“The ‘Safe2Say’ program would provide a safe and anonymous way for parents, school staff, students, and community members to report dangerous or criminal acts, threats, or instances of bullying, and make sure that law enforcement and school officials get timely information so they can act on it.
“Following the Parkland tragedy, we asked PSEA members what they thought policymakers should do to make our schools safer. Nearly 1,000 educators shared their suggestions with PSEA, and I shared them with lawmakers. From those suggestions, it’s clear that educators believe that we need to prevent tragedies before they happen, and not just respond after a tragedy occurs. In fact, several PSEA members specifically recommended establishing an anonymous reporting system like ‘Safe2Say.’
“We are hopeful that this bill will become law and that our schools will see the benefits of the new prevention policy it would put into effect. We all want the same thing – to make sure that our schools and students are safe from the kinds of horrible tragedies that we’ve seen in too many schools in our country.”
McCracken is a paraprofessional in the Council Rock School District. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents approximately 181,000 future, active and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.
Read about PSEA’s 2018 school safety report, Safe Havens of Learning, based on nearly 1,000 educators’ suggestions, at www.psea.org/schoolsafety.
