News

Several months ago, the Tamaqua Area School Board unanimously approved a policy that allowed for teachers, administrators and other employees to carry firearms on school property.  Employees approved to carry a firearm would have to successfully complete training and achieve the necessary qualifications before they receive final board approval to carry a firearm on school […]

The Keystone Teachers Association would like to congratulate Marilyn Pryle, Pennsylvania’s 2019 Teacher of the Year. Pryle is an English teacher at Abington Heights High School and was selected from 12 Teacher of the Year finalists. We would also like to honor the other 11 finalists as well as all Pennsylvania educators for the dedicated

Planning Your Retirement It is never too early or too late to plan for your retirement. We suggest you attend the PSERS Foundations For Your Future (FFYF) program.  These programs are designed to give public school employees an overview of their retirement benefits and general information about PSERS’ benefits and services. Attending one of these

The November 6 elections are getting close and candidates are running for the positions of Governor, US House, PA House, half of the US Senate and half of the PA Senate. Since KEYTA was founded 25 years ago, it has been our strong stance to abstain from endorsing or supporting political candidates and non-educational issues. 

Last week the PA House of Representatives unanimously voted to pass Senate Bill 1095, legislation that provides alternatives to Keystone Exams for students.  The bill offers students who may not have scored proficient on the Exams alternative pathways to demonstrate their readiness to graduate.  The alternatives will allow students to prove their proficiency in the

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court Janus ruling, we have been made aware of many mistruths coming from local, state and national teacher’s unions.  Union membership numbers are much lower in right-to-work states, and now that Pennsylvania public employees are also free to choose, we are seeing the unions pushing even harder to

The United States Supreme Court recently overturned an outdated law that allowed public sector unions to withdraw fees from employees, even if they choose to refrain from union membership.  Since this historical ruling, we have heard union officials calling these independent teachers free-riders, since they no longer have to fund an organization they don’t agree

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Several years ago, the Keystone Teachers Association, and its’ members, embarked on a mission to assist in educating the orphaned children in the country of Malawi in South East Africa. Thousands of dollars were donated by KEYTA members and then used to hire teachers, provide desks and educational supplies. As a result, the KEYTA School

Today, in a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that union-collected fair share fees are illegal. In writing the majority opinion, Justice Alito stated that forced union fees “violate the free speech of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern.” We are very excited to see this