TEACH PA LAUDS STATE LEGISLATURE FOR REFERRING NEW SCHOOL SECURITY FUNDING BILL TO THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
NEW BILL PROVIDES NECESSARY SECURITY FUNDING FOR DAY SCHOOLS AND YESHIVAS
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania – Teach PA, a project of the Orthodox Union and a leading advocate for equitable funding for Pennsylvania’s nonpublic schools, lauded the Pennsylvania state legislature’s announcement of a new security funding bill for nonpublic schools, bill SB 521, which has been referred to the education committee. Senator David Argall (R-PA), Chair of the Policy Committee, sponsored the bill.
The bill will provide nonpublic schools with access to the recently created School Safety and Security Grant Program within Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency which awards grants to schools and school districts. The funding can be used for hiring and training security personnel and mental health professionals, installing protected doors, windows, alarm systems and other measures to secure school buildings.
School violence has, tragically, become a regular occurrence in our country and the conversation about security impacts all of our children. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has also seen an uptick of anti-Semitic incidents including the massacre which took place in October 2018 at the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation. It is more important than ever that day school and yeshivas have the necessary security funding to keep their students and faculty safe.
Teach PA helped to create the first security grant program in the country that offers nonpublic schools security personnel. The organization has been working closely with its partners in the Catholic community as well as with local legislators to create this bill which will help make our children even safer in school.
“We have an obligation, a duty to protect our children and our educators and staff in all schools, both public and private institutions,” said Senator Argall. “This legislation will make it possible for all schools in the Commonwealth to apply for the School Safety and Security Grant, with the intention of making our schools safer for students and teachers.”
Teach PA will be hosting its fourth mission in Harrisburg on May 7th and will be advocating for the increase of school security funding for nonpublic schools. Click here to join us:https://teachcoalition.org/pa/harrisburgmission/.
“Passing legislation to provide the necessary funding for school security is critical to keeping our children safe,” said Teach PA Executive Director Arielle Frankston-Morris. “We thank Senator Argall who has been a champion of the commonwealth’s nonpublic school students for sponsoring this bill. Now is the time for the day school and yeshiva community to raise their voices and let our elected officials know that this is a crucial issue for us.”
Teach PA, a division of Teach Coalition, was founded in 2013 to advocate for equitable government funding for Pennsylvania nonpublic schools. It has helped secure over $70 million in scholarships for Jewish day school students and spearheaded the creation and maintenance of a school safety program that has delivered $700,000 to nine nonpublic schools. Currently, 20 day-schools and yeshivas receive support through Teach PA’s efforts. For more information, visit https://teachcoalition.org/pa/.