PSEA asking for clear direction as teachers, students head back to school
As tens of thousands of teachers prepare to head back to the classroom in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, PSEA President Rich Askey urged state policymakers to provide clear and consistent direction to education leaders.
Testifying before the Pennsylvania House Education Committee on Wednesday, Askey noted that educators and support professionals want to return to the classroom and miss their students, but only if safety procedures are in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“PSEA members are eager to see their students and their colleagues in person,” Askey said. “Their enthusiasm, however, is severely hampered by their valid and serious concerns about the safety and well-being of everyone in school if returning to in-person instruction is done without crucial safeguards in place. That is why we have continued to call upon Gov. Wolf – and now upon you and your colleagues – to provide the education community with consistent and clear direction.”
Askey urged lawmakers to consider six measures to address the health and safety of students, staff, and their families when school buildings reopen, including: requiring students and staff to wear face masks in all school settings; providing personal protective equipment to essential staff; cleaning buildings and facilities regularly; providing clear and detailed quarantine protocols for students and staff; assuring that notification and contact tracing will occur if a student or employee tests positive; and assuring that schools will not be used as election polling places.
Askey also advocated for a waiver from PSSA and Keystone Exam testing in 2021, as well as exams for career and technical education students. These exams were waived earlier this year under Act 13.
“The last thing students and educators should be worried about next year is standardized testing and the impact of those scores, when the traditional educational model has been upended and many students will be playing catch-up,” Askey said.
Askey also outlined the need for protections for school employees including: ensuring employees can quarantine if they test positive for COVID-19, are exposed to the virus, or are caring for a loved one with it; protecting the jobs of support professionals who serve lunches, drive buses, and work with students as classroom aides; prohibiting furloughs of professional employees because a school district moves to online learning; and providing an extension for continuing education requirements to paraprofessionals.
Askey also emphasized the need for districts to obtain emergency permits for some teachers because of the unavailability of certain certification assessments during the pandemic, as well as the need for flexibility with student teacher requirements.
“The realities of this pandemic and its impact on all aspects of our lives have tested each of us to our core,” Askey said. “These extreme circumstances have reminded each of us just how indispensable our public schools are for providing essential connections and supports within every community across the commonwealth.”