School districts across the Commonwealth have problems recruiting and retaining education support professionals including bus drivers, janitors, instructional aides, and lunch staff. 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.
 
Many of the education support professionals are ineligible for unemployment compensation despite the critical work and benefits they provide to our schools. Recruitment and retention rates would improve if these professionals were able to receive unemployment compensation benefits over the summer.  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 support the many professionals that keep our schools running and help schools improve retention rates.
 
This bill is a companion bill to HB 265 introduced by Representative Lindsey Powell. The bill will also mirror laws from Minnesota and Oregon who already allow education support professionals to receive unemployment compensation during the summer. Let’s join these two states to support our education support professionals and to help our schools recruit and retain valuable workers.