Accomplishments & Priorities

Every child in Pennsylvania should have access to a high-quality education. Our next generation's chance of success cannot depend on the ZIP code where they live. Pennsylvania's courts have ruled that our public school system is unconstitutionally underfunded. This means too many schools don't have the resources our kids need to learn. That is unacceptable. We need a generational investment in education.

• As a loud advocate in Harrisburg for additional education funding, Nick has supported historic increases in the state budget for our children's education totaling over $52 million in new annual funding and an additional $5.1M in state grants to our school districts in only 4 years as a State Representative.

• Our kids deserve to learn in a safe and nurturing environment. Nick supports Pennsylvania's school safety grant program and his relationships in Harrisburg allow him to advocate for the maximum possible funding to secure our schools.

• Its clear that Pennsylvania needs to offer opportunities for career-bound high school students beyond the college track. Investments in local trade programs and career and technical schools are a must to handle the high demand for such programs and to ensure a pipeline of workers to fill the shortages we see in many industries from nursing, to construction, to cosmetology, and more. Nick led a bipartisan group of state elected officials to secure a $4,000,000 state grant for the Steel Center for Career and Technical Education school in 2023 and supported a $30 million investment in technical schools in the state's 2024 budget.

• Western Pennsylvania used to be an exporter of newly-trained teachers, but now there is a critical shortage of education professionals. Nick has supported programs to help train new educators, provide stipends to student teachers, increase funding for state system universities to make it more affordable for teachers to get their degree, and more. We need to ensure educators can get trained, stay in the classroom, and teach our kids for their future success.

• Years of Republican education cuts have underfunded our schools and overtaxed our local property owners. The state needs to contribute its share of funding public education to stop local property tax increases. Nick voted every year to inject more state funding for education into the state budget.

As our next State Senator, Nick will support Governor Shapiro's plan to continually invest in our Pennsylvania's educational system including historic investments in special education, school-based mental health programs, school safety, school building upgrades, and more.