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In this update:

• Should Armed Security Be Required to Protect Children at School?
• Protecting Young Children from Sexually Explicit Material in Schools
• How Can We Fight Illiteracy?
• PASSHE Schools See Enrollment Increase for Second Year in a Row
• Basic Education Funding Commission Visits Hazleton
• Cracking Down on Looters and Thieves
• Preventing PA Taxpayer Dollars from Supporting Russian War Crimes

Should Armed Security Be Required to Protect Children at School?

The Senate Education Committee voted to advance Senator Mike Regan’s bill to require an armed security officer in all public schools.

Since Sandy Hook, there have been more than 200 shootings resulting in fatalities at K-12 schools across the country. A poll published by Franklin & Marshall found that 69% of registered voters in Pennsylvania support taking this action to better protect children.

When I traveled across the state holding roundtable discussions on school safety, I heard countless times from students, parents, educators, and administrators that we need to do more to keep our children safe. We can’t bury our heads in the sand – we need to take action to prevent more tragedies.

Protecting Young Children from Sexually Explicit Material in Schools

As my colleague Sen. Michele Brooks asked, why can our youngest students be banned from drinking whole milk yet allowed to easily access pornographic materials in our public schools?

I chaired a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee reviewing a bill that would require parental permission for students to view sexually explicit content.

These inappropriate materials are not rumors – we saw real examples of explicit pictures and stories available to some of our youngest students. If you would like to see the proof, here it is: Viewer discretion is advised!

A week later, the Senate passed Senator Ryan Aument’s Senate Bill 7 to give parents control over whether their children are exposed to sexually explicit content in schools.

Parents deserve to decide when or if their children are exposed to this material.

How Can We Fight Illiteracy?

I chaired a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee on new efforts to fight illiteracy in our public schools.

We heard testimony from experts in the science of reading about a new program that has helped Mississippi make huge improvements to their reading test scores. According to an article from the New York Times, “among just children in poverty, Mississippi fourth graders now are tied for best performer in the nation in National Assessment for Educational Progress reading tests.”

Dr. Wendy Farone, who spent 30 years in literary education, said it best: we need to stop spending money on education programs that don’t produce good outcomes for our students. We need to focus on the basics, so all students learn to read as soon as possible.

PASSHE Schools See Enrollment Increase for Second Year in a Row

As many colleges and universities across the country continue to grapple with declining enrollment, Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) announced this month that they saw an increase in first-time student enrollment for the second year in a row.

The ten universities that make up the PASSHE system are key to training the next generation of employees in Pennsylvania and are invaluable to the communities where they are located. As one of the Senate’s representatives on the PASSHE Board of Governors and the son and grandson of proud Bloomsburg, Kutztown, and West Chester graduates, I was pleased to hear this good news.

Basic Education Funding Commission Visits Hazleton

At my request, the Basic Education Funding Commission traveled to Hazleton to continue reviewing how to better fund our public schools. The commission heard from Brian Uplinger, the Superintendent of Hazleton School District, as well as Bob Curry and Rossanna Gabriel from the Hazleton Integration Project.

Here, to show the special challenges facing the Hazleton Area, I attempted to greet the Commission in both Spanish and English—thanks to the good work of my Hazleton office intern, Nicole Castillo.

Here, I asked Bob Curry about how we can best support students who are learning English as their second language.

Cracking Down on Looters and Thieves

My bipartisan bill to help combat organized retail theft was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. We’re not talking about simple shoplifting. This is organized criminal behavior involving serious bad actors.

As we saw in Philadelphia recently when mobs of people ransacked dozens of stores, our retailers are under siege. The increase in retail theft we’ve seen in recent years is a slap in the face of every hardworking Pennsylvanian trying to provide for themselves and their families.

Preventing PA Taxpayer Dollars from Supporting Russian War Crimes

My bill to prevent Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars from supporting companies with ties to the governments of Russia and Belarus was approved with unanimous, bipartisan support in the Senate.

My constituents of Ukrainian descent have been loud and clear – they do not want our state government supporting the war crimes committed by the Russian government during their invasion of Ukraine.

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