Over 387 bills have been reviewed since January 2024.

Pennsylvania House

  1. The House of Representatives is in recess until January 7, 2025.
  2. Four bills were referred to the House Education Committee. None of these bills address homeschooling issues.
  3. The Democrat Party has retained control of the PA House by one vote.
  4. Representative Jesse Topper (R) is the new Republican Minority leader for the 2025-2026 session. Previously, he served as the Republican Chair of the Education Committee. It is not known at this time who will be his replacement as the Republican Chair of the Committee.
  5. Representative Tim O’Neal (R) has been elected the Republican Whip in the House.

Pennsylvania Senate

  1. The Senate is in recess until January 7, 2025.
  2. Two bills were referred to the Senate Education Committee. None of these address homeschooling issues.

Issues of Interest: Election Results Discussion

  1. We have a new United States Senator, Dave McCormick (R), and two new Republican United States Congressmen, Ryan Mackenzie (R) and Robert Bresnahan (R).
  2. We are continuing to work on a request by Alicia Hunt to explore if CHAP would take a position on Congressman Peter Murphy’s Bill, HR 9462, “The Educational Choice Act for Children.”
  3. The Pennsylvania Department of Education reported that statewide achievement test scores increased this year. The results were obtained from PSSA (Pennsylvania System School Assessment), PASA (PA Association of School Administrators) and Keystone Exams.  The proficiency increases are 0.9% in math, 0.6% in English and 0.3% in science.
  4. We will be watching developments in the Federal Department of Education and with the nomination of Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education.

Brad serves as the Vice President of the CHAP Board; he is also chairman of our Legislation Committee. He is a practicing attorney for 33 years and is an adjunct faculty member at Cairn University. Brad reads all proposed legislation that comes before the education committees in Harrisburg to determine the impact on homeschooling families in Pennsylvania. Brad strives to encourage and protect Christian homeschooling families in our Commonwealth.