Title
Urging support for Pennsylvania House Bills 1204, 1206, 806, and 244 focused on addressing disparities in education, strengthening career and technical education, and creating workforce development opportunities.
Body
WHEREAS, House Bill 1204, introduced by State Representative Regina G. Young, would create the "Governor's School of Urban Teaching Act" to establish a program to enable future generations of educators to engage in an intensive summer program designed to demonstrate the rewards and hardships of teaching in an urban environment, and would provide educators with exposure to diversity and other societal factors, such as poverty or low parental involvement; and
WHEREAS, According to an article published in the Sage Journal, "urban families pay local taxes to fund school districts which often ignore local hiring opportunities in favor of recruiting a predominantly white teaching force from outside the City, thereby reducing the exposure of children of color to teachers who look like them and come from their local neighborhood"; and
WHEREAS, Rep. Young introduced House Bill 1206, which seeks to create a school task force comprised of education and health experts to investigate educational inequities displayed during the COVID-19 pandemic and make recommendations to address these inequities in our public education and health systems involving the health and safety inside school buildings; and
WHEREAS, A report published by PBS News Hour discussed the inequity in school infrastructure exposed by the spread of COVID-19 and the "crisis of crumbling and dilapidated school buildings brought on by decades of underfunding and neglect. The consequences are especially dire for Black and Latino children and for low-income children of all races. Schools serving these students were much more likely to remain closed this fall, in part because old buildings were deemed unsafe for both children and teachers during the pandemic. The fallout has left families sc...
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