Week of 6-12-2023

Inside this issue

• SUCCESS! PA House votes to advance student teacher stipend bill
• Happy Juneteenth!
• PDE announces massive grant program to help paras become special ed. teachers
• Keystone Research Center reveals the hidden high costs of private food service providers
• Upcoming Center for Professional Learning events and PEARL
• Member Benefits spotlight: Identity theft protection plans

Approved by the House Education Committee on June 13, House Bill 1331 will pay student teachers and increase pay for the teachers who mentor them. It creates a $10,000 stipend for all student teachers and a $15,000 stipend for student teachers in schools with high teacher vacancies. It also includes a $2,500 stipend for teachers who mentor student teachers. Right now, student teachers are unpaid for their 12 weeks of student teaching and often struggle to make ends meet.

This is one of PSEA’s top priorities this legislative session. Click the thumbnail above to see the ad we’re running to raise awareness about this issue. Thanks to your advocacy, this and other bills to address the teacher shortage are moving forward. Read more about PSEA’s legislative priorities at the link below.

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S. On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger emancipated slaves in Texas, the last holdout Confederate state where slavery remained legal.

Though we celebrate this momentous occasion every June 19, educators have a crucial role in sharing this history with students any time of the year to promote empathy and equality. Let's pass on the knowledge of Juneteenth so we may honor the past and inspire a more just future.

Click below for a list of NEA resources on this topic.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education just announced a statewide “Grow Your Own” initiative that includes $1.5 million in grants to help paraeducators become special education teachers. The grants will allow paras to continue working at no cost in their schools while attaining their teaching certification.

Intermediate units that partner with community colleges and local education agencies are eligible to apply for the grants. The application deadline is Aug. 11, and funding will be available until December 2025. The initiative seeks to establish a strong pipeline of high-quality educators by enabling paraeducators to earn credentials while working in the classroom and leveraging their skills, passion, and purpose to transition seamlessly into teaching roles.

Over the past decade and a half, a growing number of public schools have outsourced food services to private companies, but the financial benefits promised by contractors aren’t panning out.

Those are the key findings of a new report from the Keystone Research Center that takes a close look at food service revenues and expenditures in Pennsylvania school districts from 2006 to 2019.

Nearly 20 years ago, about 70 percent of Pennsylvania school districts self-operated their food service programs, but by 2019, that number dropped to 47 percent, as more districts chose management companies to run their school food programs. The problem is that food service management companies aren’t providing any cost savings over and above in-house programs.

Additionally, researchers examined the benefits of self-operated school district food service programs coming together to form networks that can make bulk purchases, saving districts real money. The report profiles one in particular, the Pittsburgh Regional Food Service Directors Network, to explain how these collaborations work.

Read the full report here.

PEARL

Looking for a convenient and flexible way to earn Act 48 credits, Chapter 14 verification, or postgraduate credits? As a PSEA member, you have exclusive access to over 95 courses through PEARL.

Here are just three of the courses you have access to:

• Phenomena-Centered Science in Your (Virtual) Classroom
• Connect, Collaborate, Create with School-based Occupational Therapy
• "Crip Camp": A Netflix Documentary by High Ground Productions

Webinars

• Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Cultivating Healing and Well-being Through Self Awareness
  
  • June 27 10 a.m.
• Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Cultivating Healing and Well-being Through Self-Management
  • July 11, 5:30 p.m.
• Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Cultivating Healing and Well-being Through Social Awareness
  • July 18, 10 a.m.

Book Discussions

• The Questioneers
  
  • June 29, 10-11 a.m.
• Al Capone Does My Shirts
  
  • July 13, 10-11 a.m.
• Treasure Hunters
  • July 20, 10-11 a.m.

Member Well-being

• Mindful Mondays
  • July 17, 8:30 a.m. 
• Mindful Mondays
  • Aug. 7, 8:30 a.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 (microcredentials) 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.

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