PSEA leaders head west for a conversation with PSEA Region Advocacy Coordinators Annie Briscoe and Marcus Schlegel, along with Allegheny Valley teacher and advocate Chris Squire. They talk about what member advocacy looks like across Western Pennsylvania's mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities. From educating members on national policy fights to the everyday challenges facing Western PA schools, hear what's motivating PSEA members to get involved, and what they wish more people understood about what's at stake.
PSEA leaders head west for a conversation with PSEA Region Advocacy Coordinators Annie Briscoe and Marcus Schlegel, along with Allegheny Valley teacher and advocate Chris Squire. They talk about what member advocacy looks like across Western Pennsylvania's mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities. From educating members on national policy fights to the everyday challenges facing Western PA schools, hear what's motivating PSEA members to get involved, and what they wish more people understood about what's at stake.
Voiceover:
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting edge classroom strategies to though-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin:
Hello, and welcome to Duty Free Lunch. I'm PSEA President, Aaron Chapin. I'm here today with Vice President Jeff Ney. Good afternoon, Jeff.
Jeff Ney:
Happy fall, Aaron. How you doing?
Aaron Chapin:
It is. As we record this, it's the start of fall this week, and it is absolutely gorgeous outside.
Jeff Ney:
It is, beautiful.
Aaron Chapin:
And even better, we've got about a dozen committees showing up to town.
Jeff Ney:
Yeah, they should be here momentarily.
Aaron Chapin:
We're going to have hundreds of PSEA members working here this Friday night.
Jeff Ney:
Well, it's the beginning of the school year and this is one of the most exciting weekends going. Everybody coming back in, telling their stories.
Aaron Chapin:
I know. It's like when everybody goes to college, that first day. Oh my, it's going to be a great night.
Jeff Ney:
It's going to be a great night.
Aaron Chapin:
Great night, great night.
Jeff Ney:
I'm going to bed early.
Aaron Chapin:
What was I going to say? I don't even remember what I was going to say.
Jeff Ney:
Well, we're having a podcast today.
Aaron Chapin:
We are talking today about what PSEA member advocacy looks like out in Western Pennsylvania. The organizing, that relationship building, what it looks like when our members step up and get involved beyond the classroom.
And today, we've got three great guests. We've got Annie Briscoe. She's the Region Advocacy Coordinator for the Western region. Annie, how you doing today?
Annie Briscoe:
Hi, I'm great. Thanks for having me.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh my gosh. Is this on your bucket list of things to do?
Annie Briscoe:
Absolutely.
Aaron Chapin:
All right.
Jeff Ney:
The checks in the mail is the right answer.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right. And we've got Marcus Schlegel. He's the Region Field Director and the Region Advocacy Coordinator for the Northwestern region.
Jeff Ney:
Double Duty.
Aaron Chapin:
That's right. How you doing, Marcus?
Marcus Schlegel:
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me, Jeff and Aaron. I'm happy to be here.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, I knew this was a dream come true, because he's got the Duty Free Lunch tattoo on him already.
Jeff Ney:
Already?
Aaron Chapin:
And we've got Chris Squire. He's a German teacher and member of the Allegheny Valley Education Association. And he's got a unique insider's perspective to share on getting involved in local government. Chris, how are you doing today?
Chris Squire:
Guten tag.
Aaron Chapin:
Oh, I love the German.
Chris Squire:
Good day to everybody. How you doing?
Jeff Ney:
It's great.
Aaron Chapin:
Chris, I took four and a half years of German.
Jeff Ney:
[inaudible 00:03:38].
Aaron Chapin:
And I barely understand that. Welcome to you, I'm sure this is a dream come true too.
Chris Squire:
Yes. No, I'm very excited to be part of this. Thank you.
Aaron Chapin:
You got it. We can't wait to hear what you're going to be sharing. So, welcome to the three of you. Let's get this podcast moving.
I'm going to start with you, Annie, because as you know, Western Pennsylvania covers a lot of ground. We've got the urban, we've got the suburban, we got rural communities. You got everything out there. So, how does that mix shape the way you approach advocacy work in the region?
Annie Briscoe:
Yeah, we sure do have a lot in Western region, thank you. I look at advocacy work with the same approach as organizing work, trying to meet members where they are at. And then we adapt what types of efforts that we need to to meet those needs and bring our members forward, bring the issues forward. You're right, yeah, we have a good mix in Western region. When you think of Allegheny County, you don't always think of rural communities, but welcome to Armand Valley locals and other areas of Western region.
So sometimes my advocacy work involves talking directly with our elected officials or connecting our members directly with our elected officials. Sometimes it's working with the press to highlight issues and further our advocacy of the issues that are important to our members. Some of our members are already really plugged into different organizations, different groups that operate in the space of labor or education, and so we can build on those partnerships at the local level and at the county level.
And sometimes our advocacy is really about connecting our locals to other locals within the region that may have experienced those same issues before. And I guess that's one of the benefits of such a strong region like Western region where we do have such a mix, like you mentioned, of urban, suburban, rural locals. But we're all really tied together, of course, as Steeler fans, with the exception of Chris, and as Western region members all in one county.
Jeff Ney:
Here we go, Steelers. Marcus, up in the Northwest area, Aaron, Rachel and I, we get to travel the state quite a bit when we talk to the members. We love to be able to compare how the conversations with specifically Project 2025 go in the great Northwest when you talk to members. What does that conversation look like when you're talking to those members?
Marcus Schlegel:
Well, part of the conversation sounds the same, and that's devastating funding cuts from 2.7 billion in federal funding being removed from Pennsylvania. So that part sounds the same across the state, although specific to our region, we see the Erie School District would lose 27 million-
Aaron Chapin:
Oh my gosh.
Marcus Schlegel:
... in federal funding.
Aaron Chapin:
Wow.
Marcus Schlegel:
The Northwest Tri-County IU-5 would lose 21 million in funding.
Aaron Chapin:
And that's a year.
Marcus Schlegel:
Even our smallest district would lose more than $2 million in federal funding.
Aaron Chapin:
Geez.
Marcus Schlegel:
So, that certainly gets our members' attention. But I think what equally offends our members when we discuss this is the insidious nature of Project 2025.
For instance, when you look at the fact that not a single racial harassment investigation has been resolved in the past two years, nationwide, the members go, "How can that be? There's no way. That can't be right." Well, when you look at it and you see that they just closed most of the civil rights offices, so there's no one left to do investigations, you really begin to grasp how, again, insidious this Project 2025 is in all the ways that they're undercutting our students and our teachers and our staff.
Jeff Ney:
Marcus, I'm going to stay with you because I want to talk about some of the specific challenges that face our western side of the state educators. Things, I mean, the Great Northwest has rural schools, they have urban schools. What does that funding, what could those staff shortages, what could the access to resources look like if they don't get the attention that they deserve all across the state?
Marcus Schlegel:
So you hit the nail on the head, it's devastating and devastating in so many different ways. In the Erie school district alone, we have the poorest zip code in Pennsylvania and one of the poorest in the United States, 16501. So, we're already dealing with the challenges of trying to meet students where they are and lift them up to their potential. By the same token, we have countywide school districts like Warren County and Forest County, and the population has declined to such an extent there are no easy answers, but we know what won't help. What won't help is cutting funding. What won't help is removing specialists. What won't help is not having enough teachers. So, that's really the challenges we're facing are so broad and there are just no easy answers, that we know it doesn't work. And that's cutting funding, cutting support, cutting resources, cutting staff.
Aaron Chapin:
So Chris, let's turn to you. I'm really interested in what programs you've gotten involved in through PSEA or NEA to advocate for public education. Could you share some of that with us?
Chris Squire:
Sure, sure. Again, I took part a couple years ago in a program called See Educators Run. It's a NEA program and just a terrific experience. I took part at the headquarters, the NEA headquarters in D.C. over a long weekend there, June of 2023, I think it was. And we learned the nuts and bolts of campaigning and really, it was a great experience. We had teachers who were county commissioners. We had teachers who were mayors. We had teachers, a lot of school board members obviously there, and they shared their experiences. And again, especially for a teacher there, this is important, right? We focus so much time on our subject areas, on teaching our students, that to find time for the advocacy is hard, but it's so important for me, for the future of not only our students, but my own children there, and I really think it's an important program.
I've also taken part in the summer advocacy for teachers and aids from across the state in 2022 and 2024. And I've knocked on hundreds of doors for PSEA, especially back in 2024. We saw the writing on the wall, and we're really trying to emphasize just what Marcus has said about the terrible consequences we'd see if again, Project 2025 and other education programs, again, were followed through by the current administration. And it was a great piece of literature, shared it with people, really felt like connecting with people. And we saw that election, how that went, but really felt like playing an important role there in getting out the message through education. So, those are the two main things I've been involved with through the PSEA and the NEA.
Aaron Chapin:
So Chris, if I'm correct, so you ran for local government then as an educator?
Chris Squire:
Yeah, I ran back in 2023 for township commissioner outside of Pittsburgh, a medium size township just north of the city. And again, my experiences at NEA and PSEA really helped me, again, hit the ground running. Again, knocked on a lot of doors, spoke to a lot of people. And not so much about education, more so talking about building tax bases, because a lot of these problem with a lot of the suburban districts, especially here in Pittsburgh is they don't have the tax base. So they're dependent on aging populations, aging homeowners that again, can't afford the raising the taxes. And so, that was one way I tried to connect with folks there. And didn't succeed this time, but I'm planning to run again next fall and we'll see what happens then. So again, I think it's important.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, Chris, I'm assuming that really gave you some experiences. I'm sure there's a lesson about how local decisions have a ripple effect back in the classroom, right?
Chris Squire:
Oh, sure. And again, even though it's not a school board, you're seeing again, speaking to these, especially in these older suburbs outside Pittsburgh, outside Harrisburg, these are aging groups there, and I mean, they're on a fixed income and they're struggling one to meet these tax bills and two, to see the reason, right? I mean, their kids are grown and out of the house. And so you're trying to connect and these are really, I mean, I told them I'm a teacher and try to connect in that sense, but it's not always easy. You're trying to find out what people are interested in and it may not be always what you think. And so, you really have to listen to folks and try and address their interest there.
Jeff Ney:
Under that lens, Chris, you probably... well, I'm going to ask the question. Have you had any conversations about your colleagues about what would happen if Project 2025 continues to get passed and continues in today's world?
Chris Squire:
Well, that's where I struggle, I'll have to admit. I have no problem walking in my neighborhood in the Pittsburgh area, North Hills, South Hills and talking with strangers, but I struggle to talk with my colleagues. It's just really difficult. These are people I work with every day, we know how divided the country is, and it's no different in the school. And I give our social studies teachers so much credit, I don't know how they struggle. Again, with the German, I'm somewhat insulated from a lot of these very touchy and divided, divisive issues. But again, yeah. So that's, I do struggle with talking with my colleagues about these issues.
Jeff Ney:
Well, if you could, what would that elevator pitch look like to a fellow German teacher or somebody else in your school? I mean, we don't have to drill down on it, but if a member is looking just to start that conversation, which one of those avenues do you think would resonate with the members of your school district? Is it the funding cuts? Is it the larger class sizes that could potentially happen because of Project '25? Where do you think you might be able to start a conversation?
Chris Squire:
Well, I think with my colleagues, the connection is really made, and not to say they're not interested in the school, but the connections are really made with their own children, their own families. Having them realize that, hey, the services that your children receive in schools is very likely to be cut, especially the teachers with special needs children, or... again, and that mirrors the issues within the district community too. I mean, my district is primarily, again, suburban, but a suburban-rural mix, very transient in the last few years, and a growing special ed group of students there. And again, trying to make sure people understand that a lot of these services might not be around in six months, a year, with some of these 2025 cuts.
So again, I'd love to be able to start making those connections, but it's hard because when you're talking about your colleagues there, you work with these people every day, you're a real support and I don't want to burn any bridge.
Aaron Chapin:
Absolutely, right.
Chris Squire:
Unfortunately. So again, these are important issues that need to be talked about, but I'm not the union president. And so, you have to really tread lightly in some areas.
Aaron Chapin:
Absolutely.
Jeff Ney:
Sure, and you got to pick and choose those moments.
Chris Squire:
Yeah.
Aaron Chapin:
So Annie, we're having this interview and our Executive Director, Jim Vaughan just called.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, boy.
Aaron Chapin:
I think he wants to talk. Did you do something wrong?
Annie Briscoe:
Uh-oh. Very possible.
Aaron Chapin:
I doubt it. He did call though, which I can't, but he should know better.
So let's talk, Annie. What does it look like when a member who's never been especially active decides to get involved because of what they're seeing right now? What tends to be the tipping point that's going to get them involved?
Annie Briscoe:
Yeah, really easy answer for this one. Thank you for asking me an easy question. It 100% of the time has to be something that people feel personally connected, whether there's a personal experience that's attached to that issue, a personal feeling that's attached to that issue, somebody they know personally who was impacted by that issue.
I've seen this happen time and again when we were forming our education defenders team in Western region and trying to get members to participate and spread the word about it, one of the biggest issues that our members were concerned about was immigration enforcement in our schools. And I talked to multiple members who were just looking for an avenue to direct their advocacy for that type of effort to raise awareness, to understand what the proper protocols should be, what their role should be as educators and employees, and having conversations with members who were crying on the phone because they knew their kids were leaving their school building safely at 3:30. They did not know and could not sleep because they weren't sure if that same student was going to be coming back to school safely in the morning. A very personal issue for many of our members.
Another issue recently that is drumming up some attention in Western region is the county's proposal for paid parental leave. I've heard from so many members across our membership who are so interested in getting involved in advocacy around this because maybe it's not going to impact them now, but they knew what it was like returning to work before they were ready, before their babies were ready, and what a long way paid parental leave could go for the workers in this county, but also for these babies who are going to be the students of our PSEA members in Western region.
So yeah, I would say 100% to answer your question, what's the tipping point for members to get involved if they don't have a history of activism? It's connecting with an issue that they've personally experienced or that they personally care about.
Jeff Ney:
And Marcus, I'm looking at you on the screen, you're shaking your head. How about for you, a story that you could share because I know you have a lot of conversations with members and community people up there that stuck with you while you're doing this work that might resonate with others.
Marcus Schlegel:
Yeah. And what I was thinking of, especially when Annie said it's personal, to get involved, to get invested, it's personal. And one conversation that really struck me, I was talking with one of our members, she's a special ed teacher. Our daughters are about the same age, about 10. Her daughter has extensive special ed needs, special care needs. And we were talking about the implications of Project 2025 specifically to special education resources and support, and she said, "My daughter has fewer rights now than when she was born, and if we don't stop Project 2025, she'll have fewer resources and that could negatively impact her for the rest of her life." And that really struck me as the moment we're in.
I think in our contract based world in organized education, we often think, well, if we didn't get something in this contract, we'll get it in the next one, we'll work on it for the next contract. There's a difference waiting four years for a contract and missing four years of child development support. Those are crucial years. So we have to stop it, we have to stop it now. The other thing we know from our experience in negotiations is that once you lose something, it's almost impossible to get back. So, this is the moment that we have to meet the moment.
Aaron Chapin:
Yes. Well, I'm going to ask a question to all three of you, and do me a favor, try to keep it as brief as possible just because we're definitely going to go over, but I want to make sure I get this question out there and then we got another question after that. Yeah, get ready.
Jeff Ney:
Fun one.
Aaron Chapin:
I know. But for the three of you, and I'm going to start with you, Chris, you can start us off with this though. What's one thing you wish more people inside and outside of education understood about what's at stake for Western Pennsylvania schools right now? Chris?
Chris Squire:
I just wish they understand, I mean, it's not just about the money. I mean, the money is critical obviously, but the mood and the feeling in schools right now is somewhat disconcerting, right? I mean, we're all waiting for the other shoe to drop, is there... And I'm very lucky. I mean, it's a small district that I work in, one of the smallest in the county in Western PA, and they have a relatively good tax base. But I know, again, where I live, it's not necessarily the case. But the needs aren't getting any less. I mean, they're just getting more, right? Our kids need more. They're going to need even more in two years, in four years. Again, we have no answers for anybody about what comes next.
So again, I'd just like folks to know that it's more than the money. It's just the whole mood about, how do we help these children without the resources? And just the tone that that set in lots of districts across the state and in Western PA.
Aaron Chapin:
Marcus, what about you? What's one thing you wish people understood about what's at stake for the Western part of the state?
Marcus Schlegel:
For me, Aaron, it would be that what happens to the schools happens to the community. That if you want strong, stable property values, you have to have strong, stable schools. If you want an educated workforce, then you have to have strong public education in your community. And if you want citizens who are going to take their place as they grow older in your society, you need to have strong schools. It's so facto, strong schools, strong community.
Jeff Ney:
Great answer.
Aaron Chapin:
I used that during negotiations when I was local president. You want a great community, you got to have a great school.
Jeff Ney:
Correct.
Aaron Chapin:
Yeah.
Jeff Ney:
Every job comes out of our buildings.
Aaron Chapin:
It's true. Annie, what do you want people to know? What's the one thing?
Annie Briscoe:
Gosh, it's really hard to follow Marcus. But I would say the disproportionate impact these funding cuts could have on our intermediate units and just the critical services that our IUs are required to provide for our students in our schools, and not just for our public school students, for kids as young as three. I mean, I don't think people realize just the extent of the expertise and the resources that our intermediate units, our teachers, and our support staff there provide for these students. It could not survive. Within Allegheny County, $64 million in federal funding cuts.
Aaron Chapin:
Wow. Thank you for bringing that up. It is almost a forgotten group of educators-
Jeff Ney:
Yeah, Bill Harp.
Aaron Chapin:
... that really get impacted first. They're like the first group of educators that are going to get damaged by a lack of federal funding.
Jeff Ney:
Right, because they share all the different school districts, so what cuts the districts is going to definitely trickle down to the IUs.
Aaron Chapin:
Absolutely. Well, Jeff?
Jeff Ney:
So for the three of you, I'm a big Western PA fan. So I want to lighten this up a little bit because we've talked about some heavy topics. We're focusing on regional characteristics. So I'm looking for, what is that one Western PA food or tradition that you would put up against anything else in the rest of the state?
Aaron Chapin:
I'm going to guess Annie's in my head.
Jeff Ney:
She's going to say Sheets. No? I don't think so.
Aaron Chapin:
I'm going to guess Annie's, but go ahead. You want to start with Annie?
Jeff Ney:
We might as well, you teed her up.
Aaron Chapin:
All right, Annie.
Jeff Ney:
Annie, what's that one thing that you're going to put up against everything else?
Annie Briscoe:
You guys, a cap and cheese at Primanti's.
Jeff Ney:
There you go.
Annie Briscoe:
Capicola and cheese sandwich, nothing like it. And I would say a close second would be the Pittsburgh Labor Day parade. So you get your cap and cheese and you go to the Labor Day parade and that's it.
Jeff Ney:
You don't do it backwards? You don't go to the parade and then you have the sandwich?
Annie Briscoe:
I don't know. I guess you could. Either way.
Jeff Ney:
Okay. All right.
Annie Briscoe:
If you can find one that's open on Labor Day.
Jeff Ney:
All right. Marcus, what do you think?
Marcus Schlegel:
Well, as a Pittsburgh native, I have to give a shout-out to Daly's Pubs, because I grew up in Verona just a mile from the Daly's, and that is definitely a tradition of summer, kids grabbing daily hugs. But now that I've been up in the Erie 25 years, I can say Smith Hot Dog, hands down.
Jeff Ney:
Wow.
Marcus Schlegel:
They are the best.
Jeff Ney:
Here Squire, I'm coming to you. The Philly native that moved to Western PA, what's the one thing you've seen there that you don't see anywhere else?
Chris Squire:
I have to say the view. I've traveled all over the world, I've traveled to cities all over Europe, and there's just nothing, and nothing to take away from Philly, but there's just no place with the views like Pittsburgh and Western PA. I mean, there's no place you can't go and that you don't have a terrific view of something, obviously from Mount Washington of the city. But I mean, there's no other experience than going to PNC Park, minus the Primanti's. I have to admit, I'm not a big Primanti's fan, but nothing to take away from Annie. You can't beat a hoagie water ice and all that, but there's nothing to touch the views of Western PA, whether it be a PNC Park of the city. Big one is the River Hounds.
Jeff Ney:
Oh yeah, the soccer team. Yep.
Chris Squire:
The soccer team there, behind Highmark Stadium. That's a terrific view. And again, that's just one of hundreds of terrific views that I, again, really think is unique, not only in Pennsylvania, but across the world. You don't have any place with this confluence of the rivers and the hills. It's really, again, something special.
Aaron Chapin:
All right.
Jeff Ney:
I thought he was going to sneak the cheesesteak in there, but he didn't.
Aaron Chapin:
Nobody mentioned Kennywood.
Jeff Ney:
Nobody mentioned Kennywood, no.
Aaron Chapin:
All right. Well, we are so over our time today.
Jeff Ney:
We're going to get in trouble.
Aaron Chapin:
We are going to get yelled at by the communications manager, but you know what? Too bad. I'm the President, I can do what I want. Today's guests have been Annie Briscoe, Marcus Schlegel, and Chris Squire. Thank you to the three of you for all the work that you're doing across Western Pennsylvania and sharing your stories with us. Thanks, Annie.
Annie Briscoe:
Thank you.
Aaron Chapin:
Marcus, thank you very much.
Marcus Schlegel:
Thank you.
Aaron Chapin:
And Chris, we look forward to seeing you down the road. [inaudible 00:30:33], sir.
Chris Squire:
All right, danke schoen.
Aaron Chapin:
Yo-yo. And thanks all of our listeners for tuning in for a super long one today, but it was worth it.
Jeff Ney:
Definitely.
Aaron Chapin:
You got some feedback for us? You got to share it by sending us an email to podcast@psea.org. I'm Aaron Chapin.
Jeff Ney:
And I'm Jeff Ney.
Aaron Chapin:
And you've been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover:
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more. And don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.