facebook
rss
twitter
  • About
    • Contact
    • Elementary & Secondary Education Department
    • Social Concerns Department
  • Legislative Review
  • Issues
    • Catholic Education
    • Faith and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Life and Dignity
    • Marriage and Family
    • Religious Liberty
    • Social Justice
  • Bishops’ Statements
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Bulletin Inserts
    • Church Documents
    • PA Catholic Statistics
    • Related Sites
    • Send A Letter to The Editor
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feeds
    • Via E-mail
  • Contact
  • Podcast

PA Sen. Judy Schwank Trying to Help Residents on Several Fronts

July 26, 2020
by Al Gnoza
Comments are off

Lawmakers and government officials have faced many issues and challenges over these last couple of months. But two of the more pressing problems as far as state Senator Judy Schwank (D-Berks) is concerned are the troubles with the state unemployment system and the question of how to educate our children and young people this fall.

Perhaps the most frustrating issue so far has been with unemployment.

“That has been something that we have really tried to step up to the plate in our district. Unfortunately I can’t go into the computers in Harrisburg and fix some of the problems that people have faced,” Schwank told me on a visit to her district office just outside of Reading. “We have staff dedicated, that have worked really 24-7 practically trying to assist people that have contacted us that have not received their payments or have gotten some payments and then they stop. There have been so many problems. The Department of Labor & Industry was simply overwhelmed by the number of people when we’re talking about 40% or 20% on the state level and even higher here.”

Sen. Schwank says she has been also busy working on the schooling issue. That is not settled either.

“We’ve been talking with superintendents, talking with teachers and parents about their concerns,” Schwank said. “There’s no clear-cut answer and there’s no really good answer because everybody faces different issues but if there is one issue regarding the pandemic that I think is so important, it is how we get our children back to being educated, whether it is virtually or whether it is in person, or a hybrid model of some sort. We can not afford to let children slip through the cracks and not get the education that they need. You don’t get any do-overs in childhood. Your education every year builds on the previous year.”

The senator says she’s not sure when they will be back in session in Harrisburg, maybe early or late September. She pointed out that they were in session almost immediately after the pandemic started.

About the Author
Social Share
  • google-share

News From Around PA

  • God Reveals Himself to Us as the Holy Trinity, A Perfect Relationship of Love
  • Lansdale Catholic HS Names Alumna as New President
  • Bishop Bambera to celebrate Mass for Priest Jubilarians June 8
  • Diocese of Scranton to celebrate annual Wedding Anniversary Mass on Sunday, June 4
  • Pastoral Associate/ Minister, full time, Saints Martha and Mary Parish. Hampton Township
  • Part-time Administrative Assistant, Seton LaSalle Catholic High School, Mt. Lebanon
Click To Read More

Post Archives

Unable to load Tweets

Follow

Recent Posts

Debate in PA House on House Bill 300; Exposing Underlying Components
May 03, 2023
This Week at the PA Capitol: Debate on the “Fairness Bill”
Apr 27, 2023
PA Sen. Judy Ward Talks About Real Alternatives and Crisis Pregnancy Centers
Apr 17, 2023

All Issues

  • Catholic Education
  • Faith and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Life and Dignity
  • Marriage and Family
  • Religious Liberty
  • Social Justice

banner

Sign up to join the Catholic Advocacy Network today!

CClogo© 2021 Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Bookmark and Share Site by Halibut Blue® | Login