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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 19, 2024 10:49 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Lindsay Powell |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | UC Eligibility for Education Support Professionals |
| During the summer months, many of the bus drivers, janitors, lunch staff, and other education support professionals that keep our schools running receive no pay and are ineligible for unemployment compensation. Because of this, these vital workers are often forced to look for a temporary job to pay their bills and feed their families. This not only negatively impacts the individuals working as education support professionals, but it also hurts the schools that they work in. Districts across Pennsylvania have recently struggled to attract and retain education support professionals. According to the Pennsylvania School Bus Association, at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, there were approximately 3,500 unfilled school bus driver positions, and 70 percent of superintendents reported a shortage of instructional aides in a survey conducted by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. For these reasons, I will be introducing legislation to make it possible for education support professionals to receive unemployment compensation during the summer months. This will provide much needed relief to the professionals that keep our schools running and help schools stay sufficiently staffed. Other states such as Minnesota and Oregon already allow education support professionals to receive unemployment compensation during the summer, and it is time for Pennsylvania to join them. Join me in recognizing the contribution these workers make to our schools and students by making them eligible to receive unemployment compensation during the months schools are closed. |