Gov. Josh Shapiro presented his 2026-27 budget to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Feb. 3, 2026, which included continuing bold investments in public school students and the future of Pennsylvania. One thing it did not include was funding for a much-needed cost-of-living adjustment for pre-Act 9 retirees.

PSEA President Aaron Chapin thanked the House for previously passing legislation to provide cost-of-living adjustments to thousands of teachers and public servants who retired before pension enhancements that went into effect with Act 9 of 2001. And he urged the Senate to take up similar legislation and pass a COLA alongside the FY 2026-27 budget.

“Pre-Act 9 retirees have pensions of less than $20,000 a year on average, and they haven’t seen a cost-of-living adjustment in close to 25 years,” Chapin said. “It is essential that the Senate take up this legislation and do the right thing for a group of retirees, many in their 80s now and barely making ends meet.”

COLA aside, the proposed budget does have many bright spots. It includes an overall increase of nearly $700 million in key funding for public schools, including increases of:

• $565 million to provide adequacy and tax equity payments to qualifying school districts
• $50 million distributed to all school districts through the basic education funding formula
• $50 million for special education
• $14 million for career and technical education

“Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million public school students need a state budget that invests in their schools and removes barriers so that they can reach their full potential,” PSEA President Aaron Chapin said. “Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal offers us a way to do just that.

“We have seen what our public schools have been able to achieve over the past two years with targeted adequacy funding. More schools are reducing class sizes, investing in STEM education and STEM teachers, expanding math and literacy coaching, and making long overdue repairs to aging school buildings. We must continue this progress by adopting Gov. Shapiro’s education budget proposal.”

Gov. Shapiro proposed increasing the minimum wage in Pennsylvania from $7.25 to $15 per hour. The wage has not increased in Pennsylvania since July 2009, nearly 17 years ago. Kirstie Stayduhar, a paraprofessional at Spring Cove Elementary School in Blair County and member of the Spring Cove Education Support Professionals Association, attended the governor’s budget address. She is one of thousands of hardworking support staff in Pennsylvania’s public schools earning less than $15 per hour.

Stayduhar said her job is very rewarding, but it is difficult for her family to make ends meet. She praised Gov. Shapiro for proposing an increase in the state’s minimum wage as well as other lawmakers who have joined PSEA in advocating for legislation to pay all school support staff a living wage of at least $20 per hour. Stayduhar believes that higher wages would help her district and all public schools recruit and retain more support staff.

Gov. Shapiro is proposing a $5 million increase in funding for the Student Teacher Support Program, which provides $10,000 stipends to eligible aspiring educators while they perform their full-time student teaching experience. Student teachers who receive a stipend must agree to work as teachers at schools within Pennsylvania for at least three years. Funding for the program for FY 2026-27 would be $35 million under the governor’s proposal.

“Over the past two years, student teacher stipends have been life-changing for thousands of aspiring educators across Pennsylvania,” Chapin said. “Paying student teachers a modest stipend removes a major barrier to becoming an educator and creates a strong incentive for aspiring educators to want to teach in our state. We thank the governor for proposing an increase in funding that will allow for more student teachers to receive stipends in the next school year. Our long-term goal is to ensure there is enough funding in this program for every single student teacher who qualifies for a stipend to receive one and be paid for the work they do.”

by Patsy Tallarico

President, PSEA-Retired

I hope you are enjoying the (sporadically) warmer weather after all the snow and cold weather we experienced this past winter. Along with the warmer weather comes a new state budget proposal. Gov. Josh Shapiro presented his 2026-27 state budget to the General Assembly on Feb. 3. The proposed budget includes an overall increase of nearly $700 million in key funding for public schools, including increases of $565 million to provide adequacy and tax equity payments to qualifying school districts; $50 million distributed to all school districts through the basic education funding formula; and $50 million for special education. Regrettably, the budget proposal did not include funding for a COLA for pre-Act 9 retirees. PSEA will continue efforts to get the COLA approved for pre-Act 9 retirees as the budget process proceeds.

PSEA-PACE is recommending Josh Shapiro for reelection as Pennsylvania governor and recommending Austin Davis for reelection as Pennsylvania lieutenant governor. There will also be elections for 17 U.S. House seats. The Primary Election is May 19, and the General Election is Nov. 3. Please familiarize yourselves with the candidates running for office in your communities. PSEA-PACE will be interviewing candidates and making recommendations for pro-public education candidates. Watch for information on recommended candidates and remember that prior to the elections you can check out a list of recommended state and federal candidates at SchoolHouseBallot.com. And be sure to get out and vote!

I urge you to donate to PSEA-PACE and the NEA-PAC to support the election of friends of public education. Please support PSEA-PACE efforts to identify, support, and elect friends of public education.

The PSEA-Retired House of Delegates will be held on April 13-14 in Harrisburg where the delegates will elect a president, vice president, and second vice president. The delegates will also elect representatives and alternates to the state Legislative Committee, Resolutions Committee, Instruction and Professional Development (IPD) Council, and PACE Committee. The new officers and representatives will take office on Sept. 1.

Your PSEA-Retired leaders will also participate in the PSEA House of Delegates held May 8-9 in Philadelphia as well as the NEA-Retired Annual Meeting on June 30-July 1 and the NEA-Representative Assembly on July 3-6 in Denver, Colorado. Later in the summer, retired leaders will attend the Retired School at the PSEA Summer Leadership Conference on July 19-23 in Gettysburg.

In closing, I want to recognize Linda Runyan, who passed away on Feb. 3. Linda was a strong, passionate leader who advocated for her members and public education. She was the Clarion County PSEA-Retired president, the Midwestern Region PSEA-Retired vice president, and served as Midwestern Region president during her active years. Linda will be missed by those who knew her.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns at ptallarico@psea.org

by Anne Loeffler

PSEA-Retired PACE Director

Kristi Noem, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was quoted as saying that it was important to ensure that “we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country.” Later, after days of much criticism, she said that it was “common sense” that only eligible American citizens have the right to vote and that the choice of whom to vote for was obviously up to the voters themselves.

This kerfuffle which had been ongoing in the news and on social media has wormed itself into my brain. I was not a fan of Kristi Noem. I do not believe she shared the values which I would hope to have in a powerful cabinet secretary. I found her to be a woman with much power but little true grounding. I will not miss her. However, I agree that only American citizens have the given right to vote in our elections.

When she made the proclamation regarding the “right people” I thought of the Elizabethan era. The “right people” is a concept lost long ago in the ashes of our history. I could imagine a family from the Gilded Age discussing the “right people.” To them the term might mean a family with the lineage of generational wealth. Perhaps the royalty of England might declare someone being the right person as a royal rather than a commoner. Neither of these ideas seem to fit being an American in the year 2026.

What kinds of people would Kristi Noem think are “right”? What could she use as a measure? Would she care whether they are rich? Perhaps money might be a part of her definition. What about someone’s race or color of skin? How many generations would have to be here in our country before she would accept them and their heritage? Maybe their language would be important. Perhaps only people of her political party would be “right.” Would age be a factor? Could you be too young or too old? Maybe she wants to go back to the times when women could not vote. None of this seems like common sense to me.

I can only imagine what type of “right” person she would want to be elected. Maybe they would be people of her sort and political persuasion. Fraud would abound, I fear. Ideas like collective bargaining and unions would be lost. Public schools would no longer be public. Schools would be a source of corporate funding, even more than they are now. Our communities would suffer because education would be offered to only a few, and the rest could be easily controlled. Social Security and Medicare would be ancient history with only the richest able to live comfortably. As citizens we have a lot to lose if only the “right people” get to pick the “right” candidates to win elections.

It is paramount that we as American citizens and retired educators make certain that we vote. We are the “right people” because we are people with rights given by our constitution. We have the right to vote, to select our own representative government. We have the right of free speech and the privilege of living in this wonderful country. With rights come the responsibilities of standing up to protect our democracy which has cradled our lives in this country.

I know that you understand the need to donate to PACE so that we can help candidates win because they want to protect the needs of our persons and our communities. We call them pro-education candidates. But truly they are pro-American. They have earned our votes.

Between Sept. 1, 2025, and Jan. 30, 2026, PSEA-Retired members donated $63,900. You know that PSEA-PACE is very selective when we make recommendations for candidates. Thank you for your donations. They will be used for candidates who believe in democracy. You are the “right people” for me and anyone with common sense.

Comments: L9172@aol.com

by Joanne Alaica

I wish I were still in the classroom. Now, before you jump to any conclusions about my sanity, let me explain. Admittedly, I retired as soon as I was eligible: 36 years of service, 58 years old, a decent retirement incentive, and at 100 percent of my salary because I worked every extra thing I could for my last three years. Also, when I was 60, I was eligible to collect on my late husband’s Social Security. The other incentive was that No Child Left Behind was leaving this beleaguered educator behind. I’m sure I need not explain that frustration!

As an English teacher, I can’t calculate how many diagrams I had to write and then erase several times a day! (Not to mention all that damn chalk dust up the nose, in the mouth, and all over your clothes.) And remember before the copier? It’s a wonder we weren’t all walking around high from inhaling the fumes from the ditto machines. Oh, and remember trying to correct a stencil after you found a mistake and trying to figure out whether it would take less time to cut a new one? I think I’ve repressed the process, but I remember tears being involved.

Therefore, the use of whiteboards sounds like angels (preferably of former English teachers) dropping from Heaven and diagramming to their hearts content while I click a button. Also, being able to type up notes, assignments, etc. and sending them directly to the students’ computers, laptops, tablets, etc. without having to stand in line waiting to use the copy machine to run off X number of pages for 120 students sounds wonderful!

Were that one of those angels is Willy Shakespeare himself, so he could explain to the students that he truly was writing in REAL ENGLISH! And wouldn’t it be cool if Dante were another so he could explain how many more circles of Hell he’s had to add over the centuries?!

I also would like to remain at home during a flexible instruction day wearing a lovely sweater, sweatpants, and fuzzy socks rather than risking my back digging out the snow, ice, and car at 7 a.m. and then my life driving to school EVEN WHEN THE STUDENTS HAD A TWO-HOUR DELAY!

Several TV commercials have warned me of using flimsy paper plates containing my breakfast or lunch or drinking hot beverages while conducting online classes, so I wouldn’t do that.

Oh, and the thought of no cellphones in the classroom makes me rapturous! Less cheating! Not having every word and action filmed and edited to be made out to be a monster! Fewer distractions! Reducing in-school harassment of others in texts! “Oh, frabjous joy! Callooh! Callay!”

Being realistic, I am very leery of AI. I’m not sure when it is useful. Of course, I am fearful of students’ using AI to complete their assignments and then the time-consuming task of running everything through to see where they’ve taken shortcuts. I am wondering how I could imprint on my students the importance of developing critical thinking skills and how developing and implementing those skills can greatly improve the quality of their lives. As a society and advancement of our technology from interactive refrigerators and AI, we have come to expect a shortcut to everything.

Finally, and most seriously, I wish I were in the classroom today to support my colleagues and protect my kids — whether they are in my classes or not — from the threat of government workers of intimidation or using students as a lure to capture their parents. Whether you agree or not with the methods of these government agents, I would hope you’d have some sympathy for our colleagues who have been put in the middle and have stepped in on behalf of the mental and physical well-being of their charges.

Yes, I wouldn’t mind being in the classroom again…

NEA has a wide-ranging agenda for federal action, reflecting the educational and social concerns of its members. NEA has taken positions of support and opposition on numerous bills that could affect public education, our members, and students. Below are some of the bills that NEA is encouraging its members to contact their representatives and/or senators to express support or opposition.

• H.R. 7300 Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act and H.R. 7296 SAVE America Act (OPPOSE) This bill requires in-person registration — with a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization papers — at state elections offices, whether voters are registering for the first time or updating information, such as an address. Those disenfranchised by this bill would include lower-income Americans, who are less likely to have passports, eligible voters who are hospitalized or have disabilities, and many others. Tell your senators and representatives to respect our right to vote. Tell them to stop voter-suppression bills.
• H.R. 7032 Pay Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Act (SUPPORT) This bill would set a minimum wage for school staff of $45,000 per year, or $30 per hour. Urge your representative to co-sponsor five bills to improve education support professionals’ living and working conditions:
  • Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Bill of Rights Resolution(S.Res. 158/H.Res.297) to improve overall living and working conditions for ESPs;
  • Pay Paraprofessionals and Education Support Staff Act(S. 2451/H.R. 7032) to pay ESPs a living wage;
  • ESP, Paraprofessional, and Education Support Staff Family Leave Act(S. 2738/H.R. 5222) to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover more ESPs who don’t meet current eligibility requirements;
  • Preparing and Retaining ALL (PARA) Educators Act(S. 2330/H.R. 5476) to recruit and retain paraeducators and improve their pay;
  • Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act (S. 1736/H.R. 3367) to provide workers who prepare and serve school meals with hands-on training during paid working hours.
• H.R. 4253 Expanding Access to Mental Health Services in Schools Act (SUPPORT) This bill creates a grant program to increase the number of school-based mental health professionals in schools, including counselors, social workers, and psychologists. Urge your representative to co-sponsor the bill.
• S. 1277 IDEA Full Funding Act and H.R. 2598 IDEA Full Funding Act (SUPPORT) This bill would ensure that no matter the ZIP code, students with disabilities have equal access to a well-rounded, high-quality public education, by committing Congress to finally fulfill its commitment to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
• S. 128 Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (OPPOSE) The bill requires in-person registration with proof of citizenship. It would disenfranchise millions of citizens who can’t get to elections offices and lack access to birth certificates or passports. Tell your senators and representatives to respect our right to vote. Tell them to stop voter-suppression bills.
• S. 3281 Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 and H.R. 6088 Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025 (SUPPORT) This bill would undo the devastating cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that were included in the budget reconciliation law.Urge your members of Congress to oppose any Farm Bill that fails to reverse these cuts.
• S. 2837 Protect America’s Workforce Act (SUPPORT) This bill aims to restore collective bargaining rights for unionized federal employees, including those in Department of Defense Education Activity Schools (DoDEA), reversing Trump’s Executive Order titled “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs.” Tell the Senate to support collective bargaining for federal workers, including the educators of DoDEA, by passing the Protect America’s Workforce Act, S.2837.
• S. 1503 Equality Act (SUPPORT) This bill would give LGBTQ+ Americans explicit protection from discrimination in key areas of life: employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and service, federal programs, and jury service.

To learn more about these bills and the positions NEA has taken on other bills, click on this link.

Participants at the PSEA 2026 Political Institute Jan. 16-18, 2026, in Harrisburg, PA, after hearing from Gov. Josh Shapiro. Front row (left to right): PSEA Executive Director Jim Vaughan; PSEA President Aaron Chapin; Gov. Josh Shapiro; PSEA Vice President Jeff Ney; and PSEA Treasurer Rachael West.

PSEA-Retired members participated in the PSEA 2026 Political Institute held Jan. 16-18, 2026, in Harrisburg, PA. Seated in front of the group (left to right) are Past PSEA President and PSEA-Retired President Patsy Tallarico and Past PSEA President Mike Crossey.