Category: Government Actions

PSCA Needs Your Help to Get HB 2218 Passed (May 6, 2026)

Take Action
We are calling on all members to contact your state senator and urge them to support HB 2218. Pennsylvania is currently the only state in the nation that does not require defined school counseling programs or school counselors in schools.
This legislation is a critical step toward ensuring students receive the support they need by requiring schools to implement comprehensive counseling programs, with a goal of dedicating 80% of counselors’ time to direct and indirect student services.

Why It Matters
Supports student mental health and well-being
-Establishes consistent, statewide counseling standards
-Aligns Pennsylvania with national best practices

Learn More and Get Involved:
GET INVOLVED NOW
PA School Counseling Service Act White Paper

You can find your state representative using the link below!
Ask them to join as a cosponsor!
FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

To help PSCA keep track of how many state representatives our membership contacts, please complete this optional Google Form below!
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Your advocacy matters. Together, we can ensure every student in Pennsylvania has access to the support they deserve.

Thank you for taking action!

PDE Provides LEA Special Ed. Data Reports Online Preview (May 4, 2026)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 requires states to report annually to the public on each Local Educational Agency (LEA)’s performance on the targets established in the State Performance Plan. Annually, states are required to report LEA performance on the following State Performance Plan school-age indicators for students with disabilities: Graduation Rates; Dropout Rates; Participation and Performance on Statewide Assessments; Suspension Rates; Educational Environments; School-Facilitated Parent Involvement; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity Receiving Special Education; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity in Specific Disability Categories; Timelines for Initial Evaluation; Individualized Education Program Secondary Transition Goals and Services; and Post-School Outcomes. To fulfill the State Performance Plan public reporting requirement for the 2024-25 school year, each LEA will have an online Special Education Data Report (SEDR) that shows local performance on the above indicators. In some instances, an LEA’s report will not have data for every indicator (e.g., the data comes from cyclical monitoring and the LEA was not monitored in 2024-25, or the data set is too small to be reliable), and a reason code will be on the report.

Prior to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) publishing these reports publicly, LEAs will have an opportunity to preview the website and their reports. The preview period will begin , 2026, and end , 2026. To review your State Performance Plan SEDR, visit Preview of LEA SEDR and select your LEA from the drop-down list. The accompanying narrative explains how data are obtained and how to interpret the reports. It can be found at PennData > Public Reporting > State Performance Plan Narrative (psu.edu).

If your LEA has questions or concerns about the data displayed, consult your Intermediate Unit Data Manager to ensure that the data submitted to the state matches the data provided by your LEA. If questions remain following these internal reviews and verifications, contact Jodi Rissinger, Data Manager with PDE, via email at jrissinger@pa.gov or Dan Ficca at c-dficca@pa.gov.

When the SEDR Reports go live on the public site, they can be accessed by visiting the Special Education Data Reporting (formerly PennData) website at SEDR Report Dashboard (psu.edu) and selecting your LEA from the drop-down list.

The most current State Performance Plan approved by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is available for reference on the PDE website at www.education.pa.gov and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) website at www.pattan.net.

HHS Is Working to Restore LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Prevention Hotline After White House Discontinued It (May 2, 2026)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to restart a suicide prevention hotline specialized for LGBTQ+ youth less than a year after President Donald Trump’s administration discontinued it.

The LGBTQ+ hotline is also known as the “Press 3 Option” within the broader 988 Lifeline. The 988 number is a crisis support and suicide prevention hotline for the general population that was passed in 2020, under the first Trump administration.

The hotline launched in 2022 and replaced a previous 10-digit 1-800-273-TALK number, and the specialized “press 3 option” for LGBTQ+ support followed in 2023, both under the Biden administration.

Kennedy’s announcement came a day before JAMA published a study showing youth suicide rates for 15- to 34-year-olds were 11% lower than what researchers expected between the launch of the broader lifeline in July 2022 and December 2024.

That means nearly 4,400 fewer U.S. teens and young adults died by suicide than projected in the first 2 1/2 years of the 988 mental health crisis hotline. 

The LGBTQ+ youth crisis line specifically fielded nearly 1.6 million calls, texts, and chats.

When the Press 3 Option was discontinued last summer, LGBTQ+ rights advocates warned it would be “a major hit” to LGBTQ+ youth — especially for those who have fewer access to resources, such as people living in rural areas. Those resources can include school supports such as gender support plans, inclusive classroom materials and school counselors.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDE: Education Is Not a Professional Degree (May 1, 2026)

On April 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released final regulations excluding graduate education programs from its definition of “professional degrees,” making them ineligible for higher federal student loan caps. Consequently, borrowing for these programs will be capped at $100,000, as opposed to the $200,000 cap that is placed on “professional students” from the following 11 fields: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology.

Opponents to the exclusion cited teacher shortages and the importance of graduate programs for licensure advancement, specialization and leadership roles in education. In its final rules, the USDE acknowledged concerns over the exclusion of education from the list of professional degrees, but argued that it was bound by a reference in last year’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” to an existing regulatory definition of professional programs.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

PAPSA Celebrates National School Nurse Day on MAY 6, 2026 (April 27, 2026)

Since 1972, National School Nurse Day has been set aside to recognize school nurses. National School Nurse Day was established to foster a better understanding of the role of school nurses in the educational setting. School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week. National Nurses Week is May 6-12 each year.

Why Is a School Nurse Important?
The number of students with complex physical and mental health conditions, along with the number of students at risk for health concerns, and students who are affected by societal issues, such as living in poverty, necessitates school nurses to use critical thinking and provide highly skilled, evidence-based practice that meet the needs of students, families and school communities.
School nurses work collaboratively with principals, teachers, parents and guardians to carry out a comprehensive school health services program for students, following the guidelines of the School Code, DOH Regulations, PDE Regulations, and local school district policies so that students can learn and thrive each day. Responding to everything from daily medication management to the outbreak of communicable diseases in the classroom or injuries on the playground, our school nurses rise to meet each challenge with the same sense of urgency, compassion, and duty as every other front-line health professional in the Commonwealth.
Together with the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP), we take special time to recognize the contributions that school nurses are making to the health and education of our Commonwealth’s nearly 2 million schoolchildren.
Please join us in recognizing and honoring the more than 3,200 School Nurses working across our public education system in Pennsylvania.

Source: Bipartisan PA Senate Resolution