School board directors across the Commonwealth feel the current association does not support common sense education policies due to teacher unions and Democrats pushing one-party policies in schools.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) is a member organization for elected school board directors. While it claims to offer non-partisan best practices and policy advice for school districts across the state, it has more recently become a tool for political agendas. The Democrat Party and teachers’ unions have teamed up to dictate public school policies, from COVID responses to critical race theory, and diversity-equity-inclusion. PSBA has also since aligned itself entirely with left-wing policy positions.
For instance, PSBA opposes any form of parent empowerment through school choice, such as charter schools and vouchers. The Association wants to limit transparency of school districts by changing Right to Know (RTK) laws, and of course, is continuing to demand more funding despite the state’s education budget having already skyrocketed in the past five years.
School board directors were left frustrated with the existing administration and handling of the schools in the Commonwealth, leading to the creation of a new group: the Pennsylvania School Directors Coalition (PSDC).
The PSDC seeks to offer an alternative “to support school board members in promoting common sense education policies both locally and statewide, improving academic achievement, and unlocking opportunities for all of Pennsylvania’s children.”
Pennsylvania School Director Coalition’s website states, “We believe that all school directors, regardless of political viewpoint or ideology, will find PSDC a valuable partner.”
Already the group has a full schedule of “Boot Camp” events that offer training for school directors in a variety of practical and non-political topics. On April 4, they will host a primer on Parliamentary Procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order; later this month there will be sessions on student privacy and reading budgets and audit reports. The website for the new organization does not list advocacy positions nor policy preferences.
The creation of the PSDC is proof that not all board members in Pennsylvania will sit idly by while teacher unions and Democrats influence the school districts, leaving parents with no say in their taxpayer funded education system.
