Advocacy Priorities

The PASA Advocacy Priorities direct PASA's advocacy efforts and serve to guide the Board of Governors, Executive Director and committees in carrying out the work of PASA and identifying specific actions that need to be taken in order to achieve the goals of the association.

PASA's 2024-25 Priorities include: 

Safe, Healthy, and Supportive Learning Environments
Support equitable funding to meet the safety needs, educational needs, and physical, mental and social/emotional health of all students.
 

• PASA calls for state and federal officials to work in partnership with public school officials to identify critical needs in schools and ensure that public schools have access to adequate and equitable funding that will effectively address the safety needs, educational needs, and physical, mental and social/emotional health of ALL students and maximize their learning in a healthy, secure, and positive school environment, whether in the traditional classroom or in virtual environments.
• PASA urges local and state officials to coordinate, expand, and support a critically needed community-based mental health care system that will work in partnership with school districts to provide students and their families with the support and treatment they need both inside and outside the school environment.
• In the short-term, PASA urges policymakers to work closely with superintendents and school boards to address fallout from the pandemic, specifically to support their work in addressing student needs on the local level without any political agenda, and to identify and address obstacles to providing local educational officials with the flexibility and support needed to meet the unique needs of each student within a variety of learning environments.
• PASA urges state policymakers and agencies to seek input from local public school officials when developing educational policy to coordinate consistent policies and guidance that support public schools in providing a healthy and safe learning environment for students.
• PASA believes that local officials must have decision-making authority and flexibility in the use of resources to best meet the unique needs of their respective districts rather than having specified state mandates and requirements imposed on all schools.
• PASA believes that officials on the state and local level must practice focused decision-making, to meet the needs of every child by providing services, support, and educational opportunities for all students, families, and communities and ensuring that public education meets society’s needs both now and in the future.
• PASA believes that respect and civility are essential to meaningful civil discourse both within and outside of school districts and are a fundamental component of governance at all levels. PASA believes that all adults must model those qualities for students and children, that school leaders deserve respect for their roles as school and community leaders, and that each member of the local and statewide community must practice responsibility in both communication and action as role models for the behavior expected of the next generation of citizens.
• PASA believes that school communities and the larger public community must work together to ensure that each public school is equitably and adequately supported to meet the unique educational, health, and safety needs and challenges of students in all communities throughout Pennsylvania.

• The Commonwealth must address the school staffing crisis immediately, to complete an in-depth analysis of causes for and solutions to the school staffing shortages throughout Pennsylvania schools.
• With the sharp decrease in the number of those entering teacher preparation programs, all members of the education-focused community, including policymakers and both basic and higher education institutions, must come together in a meaningful and beneficial way to address any roadblocks to entry into or continuation in teacher preparation programs, as well as any obstacles to obtaining teacher certification.
• All members of the wider Pennsylvania community must recognize their crucial responsibility to support the essential role public schools have in addressing the needs of the whole child, with that role a key to the strength and elasticity of our democracy. PASA believes that such support and respect also must extend to those who dedicate their professional lives to that goal to ensure that the role of educator will be more attractive to young people considering possible career paths.

• In addition, significant state investment in school building infrastructure and the digital infrastructure throughout the commonwealth is essential to leveling the playing field in public education and meeting the needs of 21st-century learning and beyond.
• It is also essential to match funding resources with actual costs in special education, student transportation, and other student services and programs such as those focused on students’ mental/emotional/social health to ensure a positive learning environment where students are supported, safe, thriving, and preparing for life beyond the classroom.
• Policymakers must take action to update the current charter school law and enact reforms that focus on funding and accountability to ensure public resources are being utilized for student learning, are based on actual costs, and are not draining school districts of the critical resources needed to provide quality and equitable educational opportunity within their local communities.
• Members of the General Assembly and Administration shall convene the Commission on Education and Economic Competitiveness, established in School Code in June 2022, and consult with other key educational agencies, including PASA, to establish long-term educational goals for the Commonwealth.
• Policymakers must address the inequitable state funding outlined in the declaration by President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer of the Commonwealth Court that Pennsylvania’s system for funding public education is unconstitutional. Every child should have access to a thorough and efficient education.