Governor-elect Shapiro recently nominated Shippensburg University alumnus and former superintendent of Lower Merion and Reading school districts Khalid Mumin to serve as his education secretary. His nomination will require Senate confirmation by a simple majority vote.

Under consideration in the Senate:

• SCO 571 which would allows community colleges to offer a 4-year Bachelor’s program in nursing

Under consideration in the House:

• HCO 727 establishes a Pennsylvania Teach Scholarship Program

The draft of final revisions for PA Chapter 49 is available. It looks like extensive lobbying from both ML and ECE factions have contributed to the fact that grad spans for certification will remain the same reflecting respect for the very different preparation required for PK-4 and grades 4-8. The full draft can be found at the following link: Draft Chapter 49 Final Amendments (pa.gov)

A bill addressing the testing issue for higher ed students was introduced in the PA House and sent to the House Education Committee for discussion and review on 7/13/20. Among other things, the bill waives the requirement of the basic skills test for students who are not able to do it because of Covid (very limited testing at centers) for 1 year, as well as empowers PDE to issue a 1-year emergency certificate for recent grads who have completed a program and all other requirements except the Praxis/PECT. Here is the link to HB 2683.

Senate Bill 1216 was voted on by the Senate Education Committee yesterday and passed 11-0. This bill gives the PA Secretary of Education authority to use discretion in granting temporary or permanent teaching certificates under certain circumstances. It would address the access to testing issues many recent graduates and renewing teachers are having due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The bill can be found here:  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=1216&pn=1784

Senate Bill 1216 was considered in the Senate Education Committee today. This bill would give the PA Secretary of Education (currently Pedro Rivera) the authority to utilize several options to issue temporary and permanent teaching certificates without every criteria being accomplished under certain circumstances. This is primarily in response to difficulty in accomplishing required testing due to COVID 19. The bill can be found here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2019&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=1216&pn=1784

This new feature of the PAMLE website will share current happenings in the PA and US legislatures that impact education; particularly middle level issues.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please contact Carol Watson (drcarolelizabeth@gmail.com).