education-issues
Wolf vetoes bill banning Pa. primary schools, colleges from requiring COVID vaccines
The bill also would prevent any public entity from checking someone’s COVID-19 vaccination status, such as a school district requiring teachers or students to be vaccinated. Such requirements are colloquially known as “vaccine passports.”
State higher ed system board backs plan to consolidate six universities to two
(*This story was updated at 5:05 p.m. on Wednesday, 4/28/21 with additional comment from PASSHE and APSCUF, and additional information on the timeline for implementing the consolidation.) Facing sagging enrollment and stagnant state investment, Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s governing board moved Wednesday to consolidate six of its 14 schools in western and northern […]
Pa. teachers to pay more in retirement contributions as pension fund backtracks on faulty investment data
That would average out to $180 extra dollars out of each teacher's paycheck, but the exact amount will depend on each teacher’s salary, which can vary widely between school districts.
Pa.’s horrible anti-transgender sports bill is horrible in dozens of other states, too | Friday Morning Coffee
Just another reminder that terrible ideas, like misery, love company.
Saylor to schools: Offer in-person classes or forfeit state funding
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York, said he expected the in-person learning requirement would apply to school districts, technical schools, community colleges and public universities.
As Democrats aim to flip the House, a top lawmaker took $600K from school choice donor trying to stop them
The No. 2 Democrat in the Pennsylvania House has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations from a group that’s funded at least $3.5 million in ads targeting vulnerable Democratic colleagues in an election in which control of the chamber is seen as up for grabs. House Minority Whip Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, raked […]
Two dozen Democrats flip as House fails to override Wolf sports crowd veto
The final vote 130-71, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Wolf’s veto. It marked the Republican-controlled chamber’s second failed override attempt in three weeks. Another attempt in May also failed.
‘More options and opportunities’: At Harrisburg Catholic school, DeVos pushes $5 billion program for private, religious school scholarships
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai toured Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School, a stone’s throw from the Capitol building, before plugging a plan to get students out of the troubled city school district and into private schools.
Pa. budget on its way to Gov. Wolf after education bill dispute temporarily derails process
Negotiations between the Senate and House over the concerns are set to restart Friday morning. A measure to reconsider the bill was already filed by the Democrats.
Moo-ve over skim milk: These lawmakers are udderly serious about bringing back whole milk
Surrounded by sash-wearing dairy princesses, lawmakers gulping down chocolate milk, and a sea of concerned farmers and their families, allies of Pennsylvania’s dairy industry made a plea in the Capitol Tuesday on behalf of the country’s school children — let them drink milk. Whole milk, that is. In 2010, the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress pushed through […]
With new tip line in place, lawmakers push schools to address reported threats
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, Pennsylvania's Legislature last year poured $60 million into school safety funding while also creating a statewide tip line to report threats of school violence.
House passes $100 million expansion of private school scholarship tax credit
The House voted Tuesday to nearly double the size of a state tax credit for individuals and businesses that donate money for private school scholarships.