| AFT Pennsylvania

AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur Steinberg on COVID-19 Education Relief Package

Harrisburg, PA, Friday, March 27, 2020— AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur G. Steinberg, on Friday, issued the following statement after Governor Wolf signed SB751, a bill to provide regulatory relief to school districts, educators:

“I applaud Governor Wolf’s quick and decisive action in signing of SB751 today. At a time when educators, students, and their families are facing great uncertainty, this bill provides much-needed guidance and assuredness.

“In an effort to move COVID-19 education relief as quickly as possible, Senators amended SB751 to include measures needed immediately. Therefore, in

AFT Pa President Arthur Steinberg Statement on Cancellation of Standardized Tests

Harrisburg, PA, Thursday, March 19, 2020— AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur G. Steinberg, on Thursday, issued the following statement after it was announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Education is cancelling statewide assessments, often referred to as “standardized tests”:

“I applaud Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Governor Tom Wolf for making the difficult, but correct choice to cancel statewide assessments for the rest of the school year. This continues to illustrate just how serious COVID-19 is and how serious the Commonwealth’s government is taking it.

“With

AFT Pennsylvania, Scranton Federation Of Teachers Statement On Trump’s First 2020 Town Hall

Harrisburg, PA, Thursday, March 5, 2020— AFT Pennsylvania, along with the Scranton Federation of Teachers, on Thursday, issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s Fox News town hall taking place in Scranton Thursday evening:

“President Trump’s broken promises to Pennsylvania’s working families are too numerous to list,” said Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT PA. “But the most egregious examples of the Trump Administration’s failure are public education and infrastructure. By appointing, and keeping Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, Donald Trump has already shown great

Harrisburg, PA, Thursday, February 27, 2020— AFT Pennsylvania, on Thursday, issued the following statement following an Executive Council vote to endorse Harold “Howie” Hayes for State Representative in the 18^th District special election on March 17^th:

On behalf of the 36,000 members across 61 locals in Pennsylvania, I am thrilled to endorse Howie Hayes for state representative,” said Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT PA. “We are especially proud to show labor solidarity by supporting a member of Plumbers Local Union 690.”

Steinberg continued, “With the upcoming special election, we have the

Statement on Governor Wolf’s Announcement of Charter School Reforms

Plymouth Meeting, PA, Tuesday, August 13, 2019 – Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the more than 36,000 members of the Commonwealth’s statewide affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers on Tuesday:

“We are very encouraged by Governor Wolf’s announcement today that he will back legislation to address commonsense charter school reforms in Pennsylvania, including transparency requirements, a cap on cyber charter enrollment and a moratorium on new cyber charter schools.

“If these reforms come to fruition, they will be a monumental win

Gov. Wolf announces millions in funding to fix environmental hazards in Philly schools

"Standing in the library of an Overbrook elementary school, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced the state would spend $4.3 million to help remove lead paint from Philadelphia public schools.

Including the millions the state paid last year to complete such projects, that means Pennsylvania has allocated almost $12 million to fixing environmental hazards in the Philadelphia School District.

“No parent should have to worry about the health risk of sending their child to school, and no student should be at risk from lead paint,” said Wolf, who was flanked by city and state lawmakers.

The governor

Bill raising teachers' salaries stalled

A push to raise the state's minimum teacher salary has become a bipartisan effort, but it appears to not be enough to ensure a key piece of Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal will make it into the final version of the spending document.

York CTE support staff wins 5-year deal

York Vocational Technical Support Staff has ratified a five-year contract that provides for annual raises, increased longevity pay and a small deductible increase in the 2020-21 school year.

After years of declining state funding, waste and corruption, the Scranton School District has been made a "recovery district" by the state. With a recovery plan due in May, there's talk of closing schools in the financially struggling, impoverished district. But members of the Scranton Federation of Teachers have joined with community leaders to demand adequate and fair funding. Read more and sign a petition here.

Food insecurity is the state of being unable to obtain a sufficient amount of healthy food on the daily basis. Nationally, 12.9 percent of the population are food insecure. In Pennsylvania 12.5 percent of the population fits the category, but in the City of Pittsburgh an alarming 21 percent of residents are food insecure.

Subscribe to