SCRANTON — Marywood University’s School Leadership Academy will host a presentation titled, “Leading in the Best Interest of the Student: Addressing a Culture of Strikes in Pennsylvania Schools,” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Comerford Theatre in the Center of Natural and Health Sciences.

This event is free to attend and open to the public. The moderator for the presentation is Candis Finan, Ph.D., of McPherson & Jacobson, and retired superintendent of the Delaware Valley School District.

State Representative Will Tallman will be the keynote speaker and panelist and will speak about the Strike Free Education Act, of which he is a sponsor. Tallman is serving his fifth term in office, having first been elected to serve the residents of the 193rd Legislative District in 2008. He has been appointed to serve on the Education Committee. Tallman earned his bachelor’s degree in cross cultural communications from New Tribes Mission. He served two terms on the Wellsboro Area School District Board of Education and was president of the board for two years. He also served on the Pennsylvania School Board Association’s legislative council.

Additional speakers will include:

• Aaron Chapin, who is serving as the northeast regional president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Chapin is a middle school teacher in the Stroudsburg School District, where he teaches fifth grade at Stroudsburg Middle School. He has been a teacher for 24 years and has served on the state Board of Directors for PSEA for the past three years. Additionally, Chapin has served as the president of his local PSEA/NEA affiliate since 2013, the Stroudsburg Education Association.

• John Audi, Esq., who is with the law firm of Sweet, Steven Katz & Williams. Audi will speak about the negotiation process for boards and unions. Audi has more than 30 years of experience in public sector labor and employment law and now focuses his work on education labor law, public sector labor law, legal consultation, and staff training. He began his career as general counsel to a union of state workers employed by the Office of Employment Security, and, from 1999-2008, he served as in-house regional counsel for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. His experience touches all aspects of labor relations matters including: arbitration, bargaining, PLRB hearings, and related court litigation. He served for 11 years as an administrative law judge for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, and he is a frequent lecturer on labor, employment and education legal matters.

• Joseph A. Polizzi, Ph.D., who is an associate professor of Education and the director of the School Leadership Academy at Marywood University. He holds a Ph.D. from Penn State in Educational Leadership. Prior to earning his Ph.D., he was a New York State Senate Fellow, serving on the Senate Education Committee, a Fulbright exchange teacher in Pecs, Hungary, and he was a high school English teacher for eight years in the New York City School system, where he was a United Federations of Teachers Chapter Leader. His areas of research include: authentic leadership, ethics in education leadership, understanding suffering in schools, transformative learning, and using films as a medium of instruction.

Panelists will include:

• James McGovern, superintendent of the Lake-Lehman School District

• Louise Brzuchalski, certified public accountant and school board director for the Abington Heights School District

• Pat Musto, Dallas School Board director

• Linda Keck, MA, licensed psychologist who maintains a private practice in Kingston

• Tracy Zarola, parent and realtor in the Dallas School District

Parents and citizens of Dallas rally in hopes of bringing an end to the Dallas Teachers Strike.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_DallasJump.cmyk_.jpg.optimal.jpgParents and citizens of Dallas rally in hopes of bringing an end to the Dallas Teachers Strike. Aimee Dilger file photo | Dallas Post
Back Mountain superintendent, school board member and parent on panel