Pennsylvania Principals Association 2026–28 Advocacy Priorities
The Pennsylvania Principals Association’s advocacy priorities direct our legislative and regulatory work on behalf of principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders across the Commonwealth. They guide the Board of Directors, staff, and committees as we meet with lawmakers, testify, respond to proposed legislation and regulations, and work with education partners. Building leaders turn policy into practice every day. These priorities make sure their experience shapes the decisions made in Harrisburg.
1. Adequate, Predictable State Funding
Schools need state funding they can count on and plan around, matched to what it actually costs to educate students.
Why it matters: When state funding falls short or arrives late, schools feel it right away: positions go unfilled, building projects stall, and special education costs outpace what districts receive. Predictable, adequate funding lets school leaders plan staffing and programs around students’ needs instead of budget uncertainty.
PA Principals Association Supports:
- Continued progress on adequacy funding in the 2027–28 state budget and beyond.
- Special education funding that reflects actual costs, including high-cost and mid-year placements.
- A funding system based on actual costs, with transparency and accountability for every public school that receives public dollars.
- Funding for new state requirements when they are enacted, not after.
2. Act 93 and Administrator Rights
Principals and assistant principals deserve a real voice in decisions about their compensation, benefits, and working conditions.
Why it matters: Act 93 governs how school boards set compensation and benefits for administrators, but too often the process gives building leaders little real say. A fair, transparent process, with genuine discussion before plans are adopted and clear protections, helps districts attract and keep experienced principals and assistant principals.
PA Principals Association supports:
- Written compensation and benefits agreements for school administrators.
- Meaningful discussion with administrators before compensation plans are adopted or changed.
- A fair process for resolving disputes, and the right to representation in meetings with supervisors.
- Keeping local board authority while guaranteeing these protections.
3. Safe and Supportive Schools
Student mental health, behavior, and attendance are connected, and schools need lasting support to address all three.
Why it matters: Students’ mental health, behavior, and attendance shape everything else that happens in a school. Building leaders are working with students whose needs often go beyond what a typical school can provide, while outside mental health providers and alternative placements remain hard to find. Schools need stable staffing and practical tools, not support that disappears when one-time grants run out.
PA Principals Association supports:
- Ongoing funding for school-based mental health and behavioral-support staff, so these positions don’t depend on one-time grants.
- Better access to counselors, psychologists, social workers, and community behavioral health providers.
- More flexibility in discipline and alternative-education placements, with clear rules.
- Practical training standards and guidance for new safety and anti-bullying requirements that work in real schools.
4. Principal Input and Mandate Relief
School leaders should have a say before new requirements reach their buildings, and the time and guidance to carry them out well.
Why it matters: New state requirements often arrive with short implementation windows, guidance that comes after the start date, and no funding attached. Every new requirement takes time from instruction and student support. Involving principals early leads to requirements that are workable and that schools can carry out well.
PA Principals Association supports:
- Consulting principals before new requirements are adopted: what has to happen in the school, who does it, how long it takes, what can stop to make room, and what funding comes with it.
- Final guidance before implementation begins, with enough time between the two.
- Removing or combining low-value reporting requirements.
- Local flexibility in how state requirements are carried out.
Issues We’re Watching
PA Principals Association is also following these issues closely. We will monitor them, support our education partners, and give school leaders practical guidance as policy changes.
- Curriculum and assessment, including testing and accountability reporting, addressed through our mandate-relief work.
- Technology, cellphones, and AI in schools, with a focus on practical implementation guidance for building leaders.
- School facilities and construction support for aging buildings.
- The school leadership pipeline: recruiting, preparing, and keeping principals and assistant principals.
How PA Principals Association Puts the Priorities to Work
- Meeting with legislators and state agency staff, and connecting them with principals from their own districts.
- Testifying and submitting comments on legislation, regulations, and the state budget.
- Sharing real examples of how state policy plays out in Pennsylvania schools.
- Working with education partners on shared goals.
- Keeping members informed through legislative updates and action alerts.
How Our Priorities Are Established
Our priorities come directly from members. Through a statewide member survey, we asked school leaders across Pennsylvania which issues most affect their daily work and where the association should focus its advocacy. Staff combined that input with policy research and a review of current legislation and regulations. The Board of Directors approved the final priorities in October 2026.