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HARRISBURG (June 22, 2018) – Dolores McCracken, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, today issued the following statement after the state House approved Senate Bill 1142, which includes a comprehensive safe schools program that will provide school districts $60 million in school safety grants for a menu of security, training, prevention, and counseling programs.

The state Senate is expected to approve it today and send it to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature.

“This is a thoughtful, comprehensive bill aimed at keeping our schools, students, and educators safe. We’re very pleased that lawmakers and Gov. Wolf have made this a priority, and we’re looking forward to seeing it become law.

“The $60 million school safety and security grant program will provide schools with the resources to make their schools safer and the flexibility to identify programs and practices that meet their specific, local needs.

“Just as important, the bill includes the Safe2Say program, which will provide a safe and anonymous way for parents, school staff, students, and community members to report dangerous or criminal acts, threats, or instances of bullying, and make sure that law enforcement and school officials get that information so they can act on it.

“Following the Parkland tragedy, nearly 1,000 educators sent PSEA their suggestions about how to keep our schools safe, and I was pleased to share those suggestions with Gov. Wolf and with lawmakers. This comprehensive school safety bill includes many of those ideas.

“It’s clear that we all want the same thing – to make sure that our schools and students are safe from the kinds of horrible tragedies that we’ve seen in too many schools in our country.

“Gov. Wolf and the General Assembly have made this a priority, and that will go a long way toward making our schools safer.”

McCracken is a paraprofessional in the Council Rock School District. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents approximately 181,000 future, active, and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.

Read about PSEA’s 2018 school safety report, Safe Havens of Learning, based on nearly 1,000 educators’ suggestions, at www.psea.org/schoolsafety.