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HARRISBURG, PA (Sept. 17, 2019) – PSEA Vice President Aaron Chapin joined advocates with the We the People Campaign today to call on lawmakers to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.

“It is unacceptable that we continue to pay poverty wages to thousands of hardworking Pennsylvanians, including some of the dedicated support professionals in our public schools who help students improve their reading skills, cook and serve their lunches, and maintain safe, healthy, and clean buildings,” Chapin said at a Capitol press conference. “We owe it to them, and to all Pennsylvania families, to raise the minimum wage.”

Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, at $7.25 per hour, has not been increased since 2009. More than half the states, including all of Pennsylvania’s neighbors, have raised their minimum wages.

Raising the minimum wage will lift up thousands of hardworking Pennsylvanians and their families and help students living in poverty do better at school, Chapin said.

“I’ve been a teacher for 25 years,” he said. “I’ve seen firsthand the effects of poverty on student performance. Everyone who works in education has. That’s why raising the minimum wage is a top priority for PSEA.”

“By raising the minimum wage, we can lift more Pennsylvanians out of poverty,” he added. “We can safeguard our children’s futures and finally give every hardworking Pennsylvanian making an hourly wage what they rightly deserve.”

Chapin is a social studies and reading teacher at Stroudsburg Area Middle School and vice president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 181,000 active and retired educators and school employees, student teachers, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.