It s no secret that Pennsylvaniaâs public schools and taxpayers have been under serious pressure because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus and the mitigation efforts have strained our education system and our economy in profound ways, impacting each community member, from the children in our schools to seniors on fixed incomes. As school board members from around Montgomery County, we have seen up close just how overwhelming some of these challenges have been.
As we look ahead at the state budget season, we know our lawmakers will have many difficult decisions to make. However, we suggest that one decision is actually quite straightforward:
When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit in March and schools closed, Tara Aldrich wasnât sure if her educational staffing agency would survive.
She leads Educators On Call, which specializes in providing substitute teachers and paraprofessionals to charter and private schools.
The pandemic has caused the agency to lose some its clients and teachers.
âCOVID has done a lot of damage business wise,â Aldrich said.
âItâs been a scary time for me. I wasnât sure that weâd make it through December. I was like if we donât have teachers out there, how we are going to survive this, but opportunities were presented.â