What is PACE?

PACE stands for the Political Action Committee for Education. Unions are not allowed to use dues dollars for political purposes. Therefore, money designated to be used for political expenditures must be collected separately. Members from each region of PSEA sit on the state PACE board to oversee the use of these funds and to approve all recommended candidates and expenditures. Further, political expenditures by unions are closely regulated by campaign finance law restrictions.

Our region’s PACE board representative is Hollidaysburg teacher Todd Russell, who is currently serving as the treasurer of the committee. Todd travels to Harrisburg regularly for meetings and participates in regional and statewide events to stay up to date with the activities of and news from the Government Relations department of PSEA. The Government Relations department of PSEA is headed by Dan Wiedemer, an Altoona native and AAHS graduate.

The PSEA-PACE board feels that if every member in PSEA contributed $2 per week towards political action, they would have the resources they need to elect members of Pennsylvania’s House and Senate from both parties that support public schools and union rights. That amounts to $52 per year.

Those funds are then used to support the 102/26 strategy. Those numbers represent the numbers of state representatives and senators that would constitute a majority. Regardless of their party affiliation, we need 102 representatives and 26 senators who are supportive of positions that favor Pennsylvania’s public schools, their teachers, and ultimately, their students. Key issues that PSEA identifies as relevant to public education include vouchers, school funding, seniority, payroll deduction, high-stakes testing, ESSA, and the pension.

Candidates who wish to seek the recommendation of PSEA are asked to respond to a questionnaire related to these issues. The PACE board then uses their responses, along with analysis from the Government Relations professionals regarding a statewide strategy to reach the magic numbers 102/26, to vote on recommendations for state house and senate elections.

Combining your voice with those of more than 180,000 other teachers statewide to elect legislators that believe in the power of public education is the most effective way to effect positive change in Harrisburg, and may be the only way to compete with the big money donors intent on privatizing the educational system in our country. Public education has never sustained a more coordinated and relentless attack than it is right now, and Pennsylvania is in line to suffer the same fate as Wisconsin if public education supporters are defeated in our elections in 2018. Please consider doing your part to ensure that public education is a top priority for all of the legislators we send to Harrisburg, whether they are Republican or Democratic.