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April 29, 2022
The House of Representatives was in session this week. The House and Senate are adjourned now until after the primary election and will return to the Capitol on May 23.

PSBA ADVOCACY

Successful Advocacy Day brings school officials to the Capitol

School board directors and administrators ask for increased support for public education

This week more than 160 school board directors, superintendents and other administrators gathered at the State Capitol during a joint advocacy day hosted by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA).

Following a morning issues briefing, advocates spent the day meeting with legislators to call for increased investments in public education in the 2022-23 state budget, mandate relief and charter school funding reform. The day culminated in a news conference with speakers emphasizing the need for support for public schools and highlighting budget requests that include historic investment in the basic subsidy funding and targeted investments in the Level Up supplement; at least a $200 million increase in special education funding; charter school funding reform; $60 million to address student mental health needs; and a $25 million increase for career and technical education programs.

Congratulations and thanks to all who attended Advocacy Day 2022!

Click here to read the news release.

Click here to watch a video slideshow of the day.

House quickly passes voucher legislation under House Bill 2169

Plan would cost taxpayers and schools almost $170 million

This week the House of Representatives passed House Bill 2169, voucher legislation creating “Lifeline Scholarships” that will divert taxpayer dollars away from public schools. The bill was quickly reported out of the Appropriations Committee to the House floor, where the measure was passed with a vote of 104-98. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

PSBA opposes House Bill 2169 and is continuing work to defeat the bill as it moves forward. Click here to read the letter sent by PSBA this week to the House.

Under the bill, parents of students in low-achieving schools can receive funds in the form of Lifeline Scholarships to attend a participating nonpublic school and for other expenses. Not only could school districts’ state aid be sent to unaccountable private schools, but such money could also be diverted for higher education, tutoring, uniforms, textbooks, curriculum, test fees, hardware and internet services, and other expenses. If voucher money remains after the eligible student graduates, the student would be permitted to use the money for the first two years at an institution of higher education – not even refunded to the resident school district. The tuition voucher program for students costing taxpayers and the schools that need resources the most almost $170 million.

The bill contains minimal financial and academic accountability provisions to guard against fraud and abuse. There is no requirement for students to be assessed by state assessments, or even alternative assessments, and no academic data reporting is required to allow objective evaluation of the success of the program.

Submit proposals for PSBA’s 2023 Legislative Platform

Remember to include this on your board agenda for May, June or July and submit your proposals May 20-July 22

Your school board is invited to submit proposals for consideration for PSBA’s 2023 Legislative Platform. The window for your board to submit platform proposals will be open May 20 - July 22. Boards may create new proposals, voice support for the continuation of specific items in the current platform, amend existing platform language, or suggest the deletion of a current statement. Begin by reviewing the current PSBA 2022 Legislative Platform (or see the pdf version).

Please remember to include this on your board agenda for May, June or July and submit the form to PSBA during the May 20-July 22 time frame. The submission form and guidelines will be available soon. All proposals will be considered by the PSBA Platform Committee on September 17, with final consideration by the Delegate Assembly on November 5. In addition, this year school directors will be invited to participate in a separate process to select PSBA’s Legislative Priorities for the upcoming 2023-24 session of the General Assembly. More information on the priority selection process will be available in the coming weeks.

NEWS FROM THE HILL

Signed by the governor

Award of contract for services when no bids are received: Senate Bill 478 (Sen. Dush, R-Jefferson), now Act 18 of 2022, establishes provisions for school districts and other local authorities to award a contract for services when no bids are received. Under the new law, if the district or authority advertises and no bids are received, it must advertise a second time. If no bids are received within 15 days of the second advertisement, the entity may initiate negotiations for a contract for services with a provider. Prior to the execution of the contract, the entity must disclose at a public meeting the identity of the provider, the proposed contract price and a summary of the terms and conditions of the contract. Misuse of the provisions to evade advertising requirements would be subject to penalties.

In the House

Three new legislators sworn into office
This week the Pennsylvania House of Representatives welcomed into their ranks Democrats Aerion Abney and Martell Covington and Republican Robert Schnee, all who won special elections earlier this month.

Abney won the 19th district in Allegheny County, which includes the city of Pittsburgh and various city neighborhoods. He fills the seat held by Jake Wheatley, who left the House on Jan. 31, 2022, to become chief of staff to Pittsburgh mayor Ed Gainey. Covington now represents the 24th district in Allegheny County, which includes various Pittsburgh neighborhoods. He fills the seat held by Ed Gainey, who resigned Dec. 31, 2021, following his election as mayor of Pittsburgh. Schnee represents the 116th district, which is made up parts of southern Luzerne County and the city of Hazelton. He fills the seat held by Tarah Toohil, who resigned Dec. 31, 2021, following her election to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

The new House members will fill out the remaining terms of Wheatley, Gainey and Toohil that run through the end of this year. However, they must run again in the upcoming May primary, when the districts will look slightly different because of redistricting, to stay in office for a full two-year term that will start next year.

Passed by the House of Representatives

Concurrent resolution to bar PDE’s charter regs: With a vote of 107-92, the House passed a concurrent resolution disapproving the PA Department of Education’s proposed regulations for charter and cyber charter schools and barring promulgation of the rules. Although the regulations were approved last month by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, the regulatory review process provides the House and Senate an opportunity to report a concurrent resolution if they wish to disapprove a proposal. If the General Assembly adopts the concurrent resolution by majority vote in both chambers, it is presented to the governor. If the governor vetoes the concurrent resolution, as is expected with the charter regulations, the General Assembly has 30 days, or 10 legislative days, whichever is longer, to attempt to override that veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Right-to-Know Law information: House Bill 978 (Rep. Miller, R-Lancaster) amends the Right-to-Know Law to exempt from public access information regarding an agency’s financial institution, including account numbers, routing numbers, credit card numbers and PIN numbers. Such information may be redacted to protect the security of the agency's account information. House Bill 978 also clarifies that that an individual’s personal financial information, tax information that is required by the state or federal government, as well as their contributions to health care or other benefits, retirement plans, investment options and contributions to charitable organizations is confidential and not a public document. The bill also exempts access to the number, names and ages of an employee's children. However, the bill does not prevent the disclosure of employer costs or aggregated data of employee costs related to benefits, employee benefit options or employer costs associated with employee benefits.

Approved by the House Education Committee

School-based mental health services pilot grant program: House Bill 2022 (Rep. Kaufer, R- Luzerne) as amended by the committee requires the PA Department of Education to establish a pilot program to award grants to school entities to provide supplemental mental health services to students that are in addition to the services provided by the school employees. Schools would contract with third-party providers to provide the services. These mental health specialists will work in consultation with existing school counselors, social workers and school psychologists who are employed by the school entity, and work under the supervision of an employee designated by the chief school administrator. The program would end on June 30, 2027.

Mental health awareness model curriculum: House Bill 2023 (Rep. Kaufer, R-Luzerne) requires the PA Department of Education (PDE), in consultation with at least one organization addressing mental health issues, to develop or identify a model mental health curriculum to be made available for use by school entities. Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, school entities may develop an age-appropriate mental health education program that could be incorporated into the school’s existing curriculum for students in grades K-12. Schools may use the model developed or identified by PDE. The committee amended to bill to remove language calling for schools to provide four hours of training every five years on behavioral health awareness to professional educators. The amendment addresses concerns raised by PSBA.

Mental health instruction study: House Bill 2024 (Rep. Kaufer, R-Luzerne) requires the State Board of Education to conduct a study to determine whether public school entities are currently providing mental health instruction and the manner in which the instruction is offered. As amended by the committee, the study will also ask schools how many employees they have that provide instruction in mental health, and what resources or support would be needed to improve the instruction of mental health. The State Board would provide a report on its findings by November 30, 2023.

Approved by the House Local Government Committee

Broadcasting public meetings: House Bill 2428 (Rep. Knowles, R-Schuylkill) amends the Sunshine Act to facilitate the creation of local rules allowing meetings to be broadcast online and allow public comment via authorized telecommunications devices. Political subdivisions, including school districts, and municipal authorities offering internet broadcast or remote public comment must include information regarding the broadcast or public comment in its existing public notices and meeting minutes. PSBA worked with the committee on an amendment to address and clarify a number of issues, including provisions for advertising and other matters. Another amendment inserted into House Bill 2428 raises other issues and PSBA is continuing to work with the bill sponsor and staff to improve the bill.

Approved by the House State Government Committee

Pension reform (eliminating collar provisions): House Bill 1578 (Rep. Keefer, R-York) would amend the Public School Employees’ Retirement Code in Title 24 (Education) and the State Employees’ Retirement Code in Title 71 (State Government), to end the application of collared employer contribution rates after June 30, 2021. Act 120 of 2010 imposed collars on the rate in which employer contributions may increase annually for PSERS and SERS. The collars were: for FY 2011-12, 3%; FY 2012-13, 3.5%; and FY 2013-14 and each year thereafter, 4.5%. When the actuarially required contribution rate is less than the collared rate, the rate is to be set at the actuarially required contribution rate and the collars no longer apply. The Act 120 collars have not been in effect in several years since the commonwealth has been making its full actuarially required contributions.

Pension fund fee transparency: House Bill 1671 (Rep. Miller, R-Lancaster) imposes new transparency and reporting requirements on PSERS and SERS with respect to their operations and investments. The bill requires the livestreaming of all PSERS and SERS public board meetings and committee meetings, along with a written record that must be posted on their websites and remain online for at least one year. Any record used by the boards, their employees, investment professionals or agents of each system shall be considered public records under the Right-to-Know Law unless access would cause substantial competitive harm, have a substantial detrimental impact on the value of an investment, or cause a breach of the system's fiduciary duty.

Fiduciary training: House Bill 2010 (Rep. Ryan, R-Lebanon) requires trustees, board members or other appointed or elected officials who stand in a fiduciary relationship to the members and beneficiaries of a state fund or a public pension system fund to complete training two hours of initial training and one hour of annual training in fiduciary law.

Right to Know Law changes: House Bill 2524 (Rep. Schmitt, R-Blair) amends the Right to Know Law to make numerous substantive and technical changes to the law. The bill does address two issues of interest to PSBA, including the creation of a new process for agencies to seek relief from a vexatious requester, and provisions to allow agencies to charge reasonable fees which can be assessed for the search, review, and compilation of records which are requested for commercial purposes. However, PSBA prefers the approach to these two issues under Senate Bill 552 (Sen. Dush, R-Jefferson) addressing vexatious requesters and Senate Bill 312 (Sen. Brooks, R-Mercer) regarding commercial requests.

House Bill 2524 also amends definitions to increase the law’s clarity; requires agencies to register open records officer contact information with the OOR; creates a new violation for disposing of requested records; refines circumstances under which incarcerated individuals may request records; sets additional privacy and public safety clarifications; and creates updates to comply with recent court rulings.

PSBA is working with the sponsor and other stakeholders to address various issues in the bill.

PDE NEWS

Education Secretary Ortega departs administration, Hagarty named acting secretary

This week Department of Education Secretary Dr. Noe Ortega resigned his position with the commonwealth, effective April 29. Gov. Tom Wolf has named Eric Hagarty to serve as Acting Secretary. Prior to Secretary, Ortega served as the Deputy Secretary and Commissioner for the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education (OPHE) at PDE. He began his service with the department in 2017. Hagarty most recently served as the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff responsible for implementing the governor's priorities and policies relating to education.

Revisions to Chapter 49 certification regulations now final and effective

The State Board of Education’s changes to regulations for certification of professional personnel under Title 22, Chapter 49, were published in the PA Bulletin and are now final and effective. (PA Bulletin, Vol. 52, Issue 17, April 23, 2022).

The revised regulations:

Update and align Chapter 49 with statutory changes and to match current practices.
Require teacher preparation programs to integrate professional ethics, structured literacy, and culturally relevant and sustaining education (CR-SE). The CR-SE is “education that ensures equity for all students and seeks to eliminate systemic institutional racial and cultural barriers that inhibit the success of all students in this commonwealth – particularly those who have been historically underrepresented.” It encompasses skills for educators including approaches to mental wellness, trauma-informed instruction, technological and virtual engagement, cultural awareness, and emerging factors that inhibit equitable access for all students.
Add new definitions for the terms “cultural awareness” and “trauma-informed approaches to education.”
Revise definition of “professional ethics” to include only the state Code of Ethics adopted by the Professional Standards and Practices Commission.
Require teacher preparation and continuing professional development programs to include instruction in structured literacy for candidates and educators who wish to earn/have a certificate in early childhood, elementary/middle, special education (PK-12), English as a second language and reading specialist.
Require induction programs and continuing professional development programs to include professional ethics and CR-SE education.
Expand beginning teacher induction requirements from one to two years.
Clarify requirements for long-term substitutes to participate in the 2-year induction experiences for first-year teachers.
Expand existing language regarding reciprocity with other states.
Reflect changes under Act 39 of 2018 that revised requirements for candidates Career and Technical Education certificates.

The regulations do not change the age/grade spans for certificates except for new language added to include the statutory changes under Act 82 of 2018 for special education certificates.

Advocacy Heroes in Action:

Hollidaysburg Area students meet with Rep. Jim Gregory

Rep. Jim Gregory (R-Blair) recently met with students from the Hollidaysburg Area HS to field questions on a variety of topics, including tourism, his work as a legislator, and human services issues that are especially important to him. Rep. Gregory served on the Hollidaysburg Area school board for one term prior to his election as state representative. The event was organized through PSBA’s Show Them What It Takes program with the assistance of PSBA Advocacy Ambassador Dale Kirsch.

Are you an Advocacy Hero? Under PSBA's new Advocacy Engagement Program, there are many ways school directors can assist in educating legislators that have a positive impact on our public schools and students. This recognition program honors the advocacy work you are doing every day. Click here to learn more.