Category: State Government Actions

PennDOT Announces Results of Operation Safe Stop 2022 (November 7, 2022)

​On November 7, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the results of Operation Safe Stop, an annual school bus enforcement and education initiative that was held on October 19, 2022. Officials also reminded students of safety tips to remember while waiting for or loading and unloading the bus.

Operation Safe Stop data revealed that participating school districts and law enforcement agencies reported witnessed 155 violations of the law, down from the 252 reported last year. The initiative is held in conjunction with local and state police departments, school districts, and pupil transportation providers to conduct enforcement, raise public awareness about the consequences of improper passing of school buses, and reduce occurrences. Convictions for breaking the School Bus Stopping Law increased from 314 in 2020 to 348 in 2021.

The School Bus Stopping Law requires motorists to stop at least 10 feet from the bus when approaching a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop arm extended. Motorists approaching from all directions are required to stop. The only exception to this law is when motorists encounter a school bus stopping on the opposite side of a divided highway when lanes of the highway are clearly separated by a divider, such as a concrete barrier or grassy median.

Some safety tips for students to remember while waiting for or loading and unloading the bus include:
-Get to the school bus stop five minutes early, so you won´t have to run across the road to catch the bus.
-When waiting for the bus, stay away from traffic.
-Line up at least five giant steps away from the curb or the roadway to wait for the bus.
-Never run after the school bus if it has already left the bus stop.

For more information about school bus safety, visit PennDOT’s School Bus Safety Tips page on PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website. The website also offers an interactive video illustrating Pennsylvania’s school bus stopping law.

PA Department of Education: Nearly 1,000 New E-Books Added to POWER Library for Pennsylvanians (November 3, 2022)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today announced that Pennsylvania’s public electronic library, POWER Library, has acquired 959 new e-books for users to explore on the topics of digital literacy, computer programming, business, education, and more. 

“These e-books are for Pennsylvanians of all ages with titles that support K-12 education, workforce development, and lifelong learning,” said Deputy Secretary for the Office of Commonwealth Libraries Susan Banks. “There is focus on digital skills in this new collection, and users can find topics and titles at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Libraries are for everyone, so you’ll find e-books for kids and older adults as well as e-books to suit the workforce needs of IT professionals.” 

Digital literacy includes important skills such as sending and using email, engaging with social media, creating a document or a spreadsheet, and using online sites to apply for jobs.

The newest e-books are available on the POWER Library website in Find E-resources under the following categories EBSCO E-books and Gale E-books. Users will be prompted to enter a public library card number to access them, but those without a library card can sign up for an e-card for immediate access.  

Pennsylvania is committed to ensuring that all Pennsylvanians can easily access the library resources that exist not only in their own communities but also across the commonwealth. The commonwealth helps defray the cost of basic operations of Pennsylvania’s more than 600 local public libraries that annually serve more than 16 million visitors who borrow nearly 60 million books, including digital content.

Continuing Gov. Tom Wolf’s support for education across the commonwealth, his final budget included an $11 million increase for libraries, including $69,720,000 for the Public Library Subsidy. The subsidy goes directly to local libraries, library systems, and 29 district library centers, and provides every Pennsylvanian access to statewide resource center libraries at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the libraries of The Pennsylvania State University.

POWER Library is made possible in part by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Library Access funds administered by PDE’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.   

Tools Available Online to Help Student Drivers Learn Safely (November 3, 2022)

The Pennsylvania Departments of Education (PDE) and Transportation (PennDOT) are reminding parents and caregivers that state resources are available to help keep students safe as they learn to drive. Parents are encouraged to utilize available state resources on both agency websites before they consider enrolling their children in private driving training schools (PDTS). 

In Pennsylvania, all entities wishing to provide any aspect of driver education lessons for profit are required by law to obtain a PDTS license, and PDTS are required to display the license on the passenger side visor of the vehicle. The license will contain the signature of the PDE School Safety Education Advisor and will have an expiration date. Current licensed PDTS are licensed through June 30, 2023.

All instructors are required by law to carry their instructor’s license with them whenever they are giving a behind-the-wheel lesson and are required to present their instructor license when asked by a customer or any commonwealth official.

“Parents and customers need to ask the right questions when choosing a PDTS, including asking to see an instructor’s PDE-issued instructor license and the PDE-issued license for the vehicle,” said Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty. “We are committed to ensuring that all students are safe—both in the classroom and behind the wheel—and encourage parents to educate themselves on their options by using the tools on the PDE website.”

PDE maintains a list of all approved licensed PDTS. You may access that list by visiting the PDE Driver and Safety Education website. Click on the Driver Education Programs tab, where you can search for approved driver education programs. The programs are arranged alphabetically by county.

PennDOT oversees Third-Party Testing and End-of-Course Skills Testing programs. Not every driver training school is contracted with PennDOT or a school district to administer driver skills tests. However, those that do contract with PennDOT can offer student drivers the option to complete their non-CDL driving skills tests with a licensed driving school examiner rather than going to a PennDOT Driver License Center.  

“All third-party examiners have been certified by PennDOT, and the test is the same as the one which is administered at PennDOT Driver License Centers,” PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said. “These third-party testers provide our young drivers with an additional option when scheduling driving skills tests.” 

Each Third-party tester and its examiners must meet the required background checks prior to attending examiner training. The background checks consist of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) clearance, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) clearance, Child abuse clearance, Driver History check, in addition to signing Department policies such as confidentiality policy and a customer service policy. 

These PennDOT contracted third-party examiners receive the same training that is given to the PennDOT examiners. 

PennDOT’s third-party testing program is available for all customers of any age. To find a third-party tester contracted with PennDOT, please visit PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Service website. Please contact the third-party tester for information and scheduling. Third-party sites establish their own market-driven testing fees.

Every PDTS instructor must go through a rigorous licensing process that includes, but is not limited to, Pennsylvania State Police Criminal History Background Checks, FBI Criminal History Fingerprint Checks, and Department of Human Services Child Abuse History Clearances.  Instructors must pass both a theoretical examination administered by the PDE, and a practical examination administered by PennDOT.  

Each vehicle used for behind-the-wheel lessons must be equipped with specific safety devices and meet PDE regulations and standards. 

Educators, Officials Meet in Philadelphia to Discuss Educator Workforce Shortage Issues (November 1, 2022)

On October 31, 2022, the Committee on Education Talent Recruitment held a regional convening at the School District of Philadelphia to discuss strategies to bolster and diversify Pennsylvania’s educator workforce. During the meeting, the school district provided an overview of its Grow Your Own program to train future teachers, a model which could be replicated across the commonwealth.

“Pennsylvania’s educator and paraprofessional shortages are in line with a national downturn in new teachers entering the workforce, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) considers this trend a serious threat to the future of education in the commonwealth,” said PDE Acting Secretary Eric Hagarty. “While we have developed an extensive plan to bolster and diversify our educator workforce, it’s models like the one here in Philadelphia that can be replicated elsewhere and create new opportunities to strengthen the field.”

Established under Act 55 of 2022, which amends the Pennsylvania Public School Code, the Committee on Education Talent Recruitment brings together experts in education, workforce, and related fields from across the commonwealth to develop a new course sequence for high school students interested in pursuing education as a profession.

The School District of Philadelphia’s paraprofessional program uses a Grow Your Own strategy for students interested in entering the education field. Grow Your Own apprenticeships empower schools to develop their own talent, enable on the job training for aspiring teachers, and pay for aspiring teachers to earn credentials for required degrees and certifications.

“Research shows that the single most important factor in a student’s academic attainment is having access to an effective, highly-qualified and stable teacher over time,” said School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Sr. “As the nation struggles with a declining educator workforce, we know we need to come up with new strategies and approaches to build our teacher pipeline. In collaboration with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, we designed and launched the Paraprofessional Grow Your Own program, which covers the full cost of tuition so individuals can graduate without debt and have all the necessary supports to earn a degree and transition to a teaching role in the district.”

In July, Acting Secretary Hagarty announced the release of the strategic plan to recruit and retain more educators across the commonwealth, The Foundation of Our Economy: Pennsylvania Educator Workforce Strategy, 2022-2025. The strategy was developed after conducting extensive feedback sessions with vested partners across Pennsylvania and contains dozens of steps that PDE and its partners will use to address the commonwealth’s educator shortage.

The last few years have been among the most challenging for those working in schools, and the number of new educators entering the profession has declined as a result: a decade ago, roughly 20,000 new teachers entered the workforce each year, while last year only 6,000 did so. To make matters worse, the rate of educators leaving the profession continues to accelerate. This means that schools are having a harder time than ever before in filling critical staff positions.

Additionally, by 2025, the commonwealth’s K-12 population will have higher proportions of students of color​, yet less than 7% of teachers in Pennsylvania are people of color. Research has proven that students learn best when they have the opportunity to do so from teachers whose life experience reflects their own. Meeting the needs of the diverse student population will require a significant increase in the diversity of Pennsylvania’s educator workforce. 

The Foundation of Our Economy builds on the Wolf Administration’s efforts over the past eight years to ensure a high-quality education to learners of all ages across the commonwealth. The administration has increased education funding by more than $3.7 billion since 2015, with an historic increase of $1.8 billion in this year’s final budget.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.

PCCD Offers 2022-23 K-12 Threat Assessment Training Sessions (October 31, 2022)

Act 18 of 2019 amended the Public School Code of 1949 by adding Article XIII-E, Threat Assessment. Among its provisions, Article XIII-E requires the establishment of threat assessment teams for all school entities in Pennsylvania and tasks the School Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) to research, develop and provide free threat assessment guidelines, training and informational materials, as well as model procedures and guidelines for school entities.

As a result, the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) is announcing its 2022-23 K-12 Threat Assessment Training Sessions, which can be accessed free online at any time via the PA K-12 Threat Assessment Training & Technical Assistance Network website here. In addition, a regional training session has been scheduled at PaTTAN Central Threat Assessment Training Session (Harrisburg, PA): December 8, 2022, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.  Registration is now open: REGISTER HERE.