HARRISBURG, Oct. 7 – The Pennsylvania House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and House Education Committee held a joint hearing today on H.B. 1768, the Keystone Fresh Act, introduced by state Reps. Danilo Burgos and Jonathan Fritz. The bipartisan legislation would expand access to fresh, locally sourced foods in school meals while supporting Pennsylvania farmers and strengthening local economies. The complete hearing can be viewed here . "Schools across Pennsylvania serve more than 168 million lunches per year , providing critical nutrients to children across the state and making them one of the largest potential markets for agricultural producers in Pennsylvania,” said Burgos, D-Phila. “However, school board food service providers reportedly only spend 9% of their total food costs on local foods. Local food purchasing incentive legislation , like the Keystone Fresh Act, would establish a grant program incentivizing schools to purchase, promote and serve local foods in their meal programs.” The Keystone Fresh Act would provide funding for schools to buy more local foods, and resources for farmers to meet school market needs. Research shows that for every $1 spent on local food purchasing initiatives, $1.40 circulates back into local economies. With Pennsylvania’s diverse agriculture sector, this program would improve student nutrition, stimulate the farm economy, and strengthen connections among Read more
We had a robust discussion today with many school facility experts who shared insights into the urgent need for school renovations and upgrades. What we need right now is adequate and accurate information regarding current school building conditions. Read more
On Monday, Sept. 22, the House Education Committee convened a public hearing to discuss school facilities and HB 1701. Read more
State Rep. Pete Schweyer (D., Lehigh) heads his chamber’s Education Committee and has lately been focused on passing legislation that would update the decades-old law governing cyber charter schools. He told Spotlight PA he only recently became aware of CCA’s stance on student wellness checks. Read more
Cyber charter schools often fail to provide meaningful adult supervision that could prevent harm to at-risk students. The 65,000 cyber charter school students deserve to learn in a safe environment, and if the schools are unwilling to do this on their own accord, we’re going to step in. Read more
In this edition of Community Conversation, Pa. state Rep. Peter Schweyer sat down with the director of Allentown Public Library Renee Haines to talk about all the free programs and resources the library offers. Read more
The Pennsylvania House Education Committee continued its statewide review of cyber charter school accountability with a third informational meeting held on Thursday, May 8, at Stroudsburg High School. Read more
On Thursday, May 8, the House Education Committee convened its third informational meeting to discuss who oversees cyber charter schools and the transparency and accountability of cyber charter schools. Read more
State Rep. Peter Schweyer today announced his community solar bill passed the state House. Read more
The Pennsylvania House Education Committee has scheduled a series of hearings about cyber charter schools in the commonwealth. Read more
The Pennsylvania House Education Committee hosted its second hearing on May 2 in Johnstown as part of a statewide effort to address the financial implications of cyber charter school funding on taxpayers and school districts. Read more
In his latest Community Conversation, Pa. state Rep. Peter Schweyer sat down with Allentown's Director of Parks and Recreation Mandy Tolino to highlight a variety of projects that will enhance and expand recreational facilities across the city. Read more
On Friday, May 2, 2025, the PA House Education Committee convened a public informational meeting to discuss the costs to school districts to operate cyber charter schools. Read more
Continuing their work to invest in career and technical education in the Lehigh Valley, state Reps. Peter Schweyer, Mike Schlossberg and Josh Siegel, in collaboration with state Sen. Nick Miller, announced grant funding totaling $525,000 was awarded to two educational institutions in the community. Read more
The academic outcomes at Pennsylvania’s 14 cyber charter school districts compare poorly to typical brick and mortar schools, according to experts who testified at a House Education Committee hearing on Friday in Lancaster. Read more
On Friday, April 25, 2025, the PA House Education Committee convened an informational meeting to discuss PA cyber charter school outcomes. Read more
Members of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee praised the Conestoga Valley academy as an alternative to cyber charter schools, which are funded by school districts across the state with taxpayer dollars Read more
The PA House Education Committee convened the first hearing in a statewide tour today to discuss cyber charter oversight and accountability. Read more
LANCASTER, April 25 – The PA House Education Committee convened the first hearing in a statewide tour today to discuss cyber charter oversight and accountability. “Today, we kicked off a series of meetings to have an honest and open discussion on Pennsylvania’s cyber charters as the recent Auditor General’s report on cyber charters has raised some serious questions and concerns,” said Schweyer, D-Lehigh, Majority Chair of the House Education Committee. “It is my hope that hearings can both educate Pennsylvanians on cyber charter schools and lead to increased transparency and accountability for these online institutions.” The hearing at Lincoln Middle School focused on student outcomes and academic performances of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools. Testifiers included representatives from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Education Voters of Pennsylvania, school district officials and administrators with Commonwealth Charter Academy. “The performance of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools continues to lag far behind that of traditional public schools and brick-and-mortar charter schools,” said Dr. Sherri Smith, Executive Director, PASA. “As a state, we should be very concerned about the ongoing issue of low performance and participation compliance of cyber charter schools.” According to Read more
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