On December 22, 2020, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee recommended that teachers, other school support personnel, and child care workers be among the frontline essential workers identified for inclusion in the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, alongside first responders, food and grocery store workers, postal employees, and other groups. According to the CDC, the Phase 1b group is expected to include an estimated 49 million people, according to the CDC. To view the committee recommendation, click here.
Category: Government Actions
President-elect Biden Announces Dr. Miguel Cardona as Nominee for Secretary of Education (December 24, 2020)
On December 22, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced that Dr. Miguel A. Cardona, a former public school classroom teacher and the current Connecticut Education Commissioner, will be nominated to serve as the 12th Secretary of Education.
According top a press release, as states and school districts struggle to meet studentsâ needs due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Cardona will make getting students of all ages and in every community back in the classroom safely a national priority â working with Congress and local, state, and tribal leaders to secure the funding and strong public health measures needed towards safely reopening the majority of schools within the first 100 days of the new administration. He will also strive to eliminate long-standing inequities and close racial and socioeconomic opportunity gaps â and expand access to community colleges, training, and public four-year colleges and universities to improve student success and grow a stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive middle class.
Dr. Cardona currently serves as Connecticutâs Commissioner of Education â the first Latino to hold the position. He began his career educating and inspiring Connecticutâs youth as a fourth-grade teacher in Meridenâs public school system, the same school district he attended as a child. Dr. Cardona became the youngest school principal in the state at age 28, serving in the position for 10 years before taking on a role addressing the districtâs performance and evaluation process and ultimately rising to the position of assistant superintendent. His leadership during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis helped make Connecticut the first state in the nation to ensure that every one of its public school students has a laptop and a high-speed internet connection to engage in remote learning â a key driver in preventing lost school time and closing persistent equity and opportunity gaps.
In addition to teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Educational Leadership, Dr. Cardona served as the Co-Chairperson on the Connecticut Legislative Achievement Gap Task Force and the Connecticut Birth to Grade Three Leaders Council. Dr. Cardona earned his bachelorâs degree from Central Connecticut State University, and his masters in bilingual/bicultural education and his doctorate in education from the University of Connecticut.
To read more on Dr. Cardona, click here.
PA State Bd Sends Proposed Regs to IRRC (December 21, 2020)
On December 8, 2020, Karen Molchanow, Executive Director of the PA State Board of Education, sent a letter to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) that contained a copy of proposed regulation approved by the PA State Board of Education (PA Code Cite: 22 Pa. Code Chapter 49 âCertification of Professional Personnel, #006-346) for review by the IRRC pursuant to the Regulatory Review Act. The regulation was also delivered to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which occurred on December 19, 2020. The letter goes on to say that, as the 2019-2020 legislative session has concluded, the PA State Board is holding delivery of proposed regulation #6-346 to the House and Senate Committees on Education until the start of the new legislative session.
The letter also contained a Regulatory Analysis Form which states that Pennsylvania faces challenges in educator recruitment and retention. Enrollment in traditional educator preparation programs has declined by 67% since 2010, which contributes to challenges to PA schools face in staffing classrooms with fully prepared educators. The decline in supply and resulting shortages disproportionately impact inequities in access to qualified teachers for low-income students and students of color. The eight districts that top the stateâs list for teacher shortages based on unfilled vacancies are all Title I districts, and six of the eight districts with the greatest teacher shortages serve primarily students of color. Title I is a federal program that provides financial assistance to local education agencies and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families. To address these gaps, the state has become increasingly reliant on long-term substitutes serving on emergency permits to staff classrooms as evidenced by a 100% increase in the number of emergency permits issued to districts in Pennsylvania between 2014-15 and 2016-17. These circumstances are concerning because research demonstrates that teachers with little or no preparation often lead classrooms with lower student outcomes and experience a higher attrition rate from the field. Nationally, 66% of teacher turnover in 2015-16 was due to pre-retirement attrition.
These challenging circumstances demand attention to ensure that all students in Pennsylvania are served by teachers fully prepared to meet their needs. The proposed amendments collectively are intended to support efforts to improve educator recruitment, increase retention in the profession, increase the number of classrooms staffed by fully prepared teachers, and improve student outcomes by strengthening the preparation of new educators, creating conditions to provide more support for educators as they enter the classroom, and by improving the skill sets of current educators in working with an increasingly diverse student population. Increasing retention in the profession through staffing classrooms with more fully prepared educators can have positive financial and economic outcomes for the Commonwealth by reducing the amount of resources focused on recruitment and training due to staff turnover. Stalling classrooms with more fully prepared educators further can engender a positive financial and economic impact on the Commonwealth by improving student outcomes and, thus, creating a more well-prepared workforce.
The next steps in the regulatory process is the close of a public comment period on January 18, 2021, the final proposed regulations due by January 21, 2023, and the IRRC comments due by February 17, 2021. To read the proposed regulations in their entirety, click here.
Gov. Wolf Reminds Pennsylvanians Experiencing Anxiety, Loneliness, Stress Amidst Holiday Season that They are Not Alone (December 18, 2020)
The Wolf Administration issued recommendations to help individuals and families stay safe during the 2020 holiday season. Families are encouraged to hold virtual gatherings to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The CDC indicates that small household gatherings are a large contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases, and exposure at these events can follow and spread once the holidays are over.
The Administration strongly recommends against participating in holiday gatherings with individuals or groups outside of your household, especially for individuals who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 infection, which includes older adults, individuals with certain medical conditions, and any resident of a long-term care facility.
âAs COVID-19 cases continue to rise and as we enter flu season, itâs important that we continue to take this virus seriously. That means continuing to wear masks and forego social gatherings, even holiday gatherings, to protect those we love,â said Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller. âThere are massive surges of positive COVID-19 cases in the majority of Pennsylvania counties, and protecting those most vulnerable for severe COVID-19 infection is critical. I urge everyone to remember the risks and do what we can to keep each other, our loved ones, and vulnerable people safe this holiday season.â
The departments of Health and Human Services have issued guidance to all long-term care facilities and nursing homes to go over with their residents to make sure they are safe over the holidays. Those who are at increased risk to severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid in-person gatherings with people who do not live in the same household. For more on this topic, click here.
PA DHS Highlights Research and Best Practices in Data Analytics for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Dual Diagnoses (December 17, 2020)
On December 15, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) released the latest issue of the Positive Approaches Journal. The journal aims to provide the most recent research and resources for people with the dual diagnoses of an intellectual disability/autism and a co-occurring mental illness on living an everyday life.
âPeople with dual diagnoses often face challenges for true inclusion in their communities and require appropriate services and supports. The Positive Approaches Journal is one more way to help people understand and access the services they need,â said DHS Secretary Teresa Miller. âOur goal at DHS is to serve more people in their communities, and we want those services to be the best that they can be. We hope that by publishing these resources and advancements to professionals and supporters, we can foster more research and improved services for the people who need them.â
The journal is a collaboration of DHSâ Office of Developmental Programs and Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and collects resources, observations, and advancements in mental and behavioral health in order to better serve people with dual diagnoses in their communities.
For more information from DHS, click here. To view this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal, click here.