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HARRISBURG (April 18, 2018) – Pennsylvania State Education Association President Dolores McCracken and David Namey, who leads PSEA’s Career and Technical Studies Department, today commended state representatives on a bipartisan legislative package aimed at ensuring the sustainability of high-quality career and technical programs and educating students, parents, and the public about the importance of career and technical education.

The state House Education Committee approved the legislative package on April 16. State representatives and supporters of the legislation held a press conference to discuss it in the state Capitol today.

“Career and technical education programs are pipelines between excellent public schools and good paying jobs,” McCracken said. “PSEA is proud to support this legislation and we commend the state representatives who’ve worked on it for the bipartisan approach they’ve taken. Now more than ever, businesses are looking for workers with well-developed technical skills. Career and technical programs are where students learn those skills and prepare for those good-paying jobs.”

“As a career and technical educator and long-time believer in these programs, I am incredibly pleased that this bipartisan group of lawmakers has come together to make this a priority,” said Namey, who participated in the press conference. “Every day, I see how career and technical education impacts students and helps them get jobs in fields that require technical expertise. This legislation recognizes how important these programs are, and I’m eager to see it become law.”

McCracken is a paraprofessional in the Council Rock School District. Namey is a teacher at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center. 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.