Newsroom

Wolf’s ‘dream for a better PA’: fairer distribution of money to schools, reforms to charter schools

Wolf made it clear that despite pushing the lifeblood of state funding to school districts to a new high-water mark of $6.2 billion, he’s not done yet. He wants to see more of those basic education dollars to school districts get distributed through the state’s fair funding formula… More

Pennsbury adds a SPARK to STEM

Ten school district teachers have been reassigned to a special elementary school STEM-based program called SPARK. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the Pennsbury School District (Bucks Co.) got another boost recently with the announcement of a new elementary school program called SPARK… More

Five things that didn’t make it into Pennsylvania’s $34 billion budget package (video)

Pennsylvania has a new spending plan worth nearly $34 billion. PA Post reporter Ed Mahon explains what didn’t make into the details — and why… More

Cyberattacks inflict deep harm at technology-rich schools

The kind of attacks more commonly reserved for banks and other institutions holding sensitive data are increasingly targeting school systems around the country… More

Watch: Highlights of the 2019-2020 state budget, School Code bills

How will the new state budget and changes to the School Code affect districts across Pennsylvania? Get details on education funding, PlanCon updates, school safety bills and more! Watch it here: For an in-depth look at the budget updates, members may login to myPSBA… More

Act 67 of 2019: School security personnel

Quick summary: Act 67 was Senate Bill 621, printer’s number 1081 in the 2019-20 legislative session. It makes numerous changes to the School Code concerning the hiring and training of school security personnel. Effective date: Act 67 became effective in 60 days after the governor signed it into law on July 2, 2019… More

Act 18 of 2019: School safety package (changes to Act 44 and more)

Quick summary: Act 18 of 2019 was Senate Bill 144, printer’s number 1078, in the 2019-20 legislative session. It was introduced to establish the Keystone Telepresence Education Grant program and was amended to include numerous changes to Act 44 of 2018 as well as set new provisions regarding school safety and security… More

Nearly four years after Toomey’s child predator bill became law, most states still not enforcing it

Tucked inside the 2015 law that overhauled a range of policies for the nation’s K-12 schools was a provision U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey had sought to crack down on child predators who have been able to quietly move from school to school. Some states, including Pennsylvania, already had laws on the books to prohibit the practice… More

States are ratcheting up reading expectations for third-graders

Changes in education policy often emanate from the federal government. Think Common Core, the set of standards established in 2010 for what U.S. students should know. But one policy that has spread across the country came not from Washington, D.C., but from Florida… More

PSBA, schools praise new state measure

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) praises the recent passage of legislation to update and improve the process for state reimbursement of public school construction projects… More