Duty Free Lunch

By Pennsylvania State Education Association, PSEASociety & Culture Education Government

Duty Free Lunch episodes

October 14 Project 2025 on trial: What it means for Pennsylvania educators
How do the legal challenges to Project 2025 affect you as a PSEA member? PSEA Staff Attorney Harsha Mikkilineni and NEA's Mary Kusler explain what's changing, what's still unsettled, and what your rights and protections look like now.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
25 min
October 07 How Arizona and Utah educators defended their voice from anti-unionism
Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia and Utah Education Association's Bonnie Billings join Aaron and Rachael to share how their members advocated against anti-union legislation. From court challenges to referendums, they discuss the tools that worked, the power of solidarity with other unions, the movement against Arizona's costly voucher program, and what Pennsylvania members can learn from it all.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
27 min
September 30 Advocacy out west: PSEA members in action
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.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
28 min
September 23 Mail-in voting in PA, explained
In the 2024 election, about 1.9 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail — out of more than 7 million voters. With another election weeks away, Jonathan Marks, Pennsylvania’s Deputy Secretary for Elections & Commissions, and Deborah Hinchey, the Pennsylvania State Director for All Voting is Local, join Duty Free Lunch to discuss voting by mail, including what voters need to know to ensure their ballots are submitted and counted properly.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
22 min
September 16 PSEA Region Advocacy Coordinators sound the alarm on Project 2025
Aaron and Jeff sit down with three Region Advocacy Coordinators from across eastern Pennsylvania to talk about grassroots efforts educating members and communities on Project 2025. From press conferences to paycheck emails to Labor Day outreach, hear how PSEA members are turning worry into action — and drawing on hard lessons from past education cuts to fuel the push back.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
25 min
September 09 Behind the curtain of PSEA's Summer Leadership Conference
Every summer, PSEA members gather in Gettysburg for a week of learning and connection. But it takes months of planning and a dedicated team in red shirts to make it happen. Amy Pascale and Shannon Boyd of PSEA's Leadership Development Committee join Duty Free Lunch to share what goes on behind the scenes, from year-round planning to being the on-the-ground resource members count on all week long.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
26 min
September 02 Project 2025: The $3 billion funding threat to PA schools
Season 4 of “Duty Free Lunch” kicks off with Aaron and Jeff tackling one of the biggest issues of the new school year: Project 2025. They’re joined by two local association presidents, Bill Quinn (Easton Area EA) and Will James (Eastern York EA), fresh off community press conferences warning about a potential $3 billion federal education funding cut over the next decade. Having both faced mass furloughs, larger class sizes, and lost programs during the 2011 Corbett cuts, these two seasoned educators have a lot to say about what’s at stake this time around.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
26 min
August 26 Witness Stones Project unearths Lancaster City's complicated history
JP McCaskey High School teacher Todd Mealy joins Aaron and Jeff to discuss the Witness Stones Project, a three-year program where students dig through 18th century tax records, wills, and runaway ads to uncover the names of people who were enslaved and erased from history. They turn their research into biographical projects and lay granite memorial stones throughout Lancaster City meant to disrupt and challenge.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
25 min
August 12 Reel life lessons with afterschool fly fishing club
Sixth-grade teacher Tim Cammisa turned a lifelong passion into a school tradition, leading the Fly Fishing Club at Haine Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District for nearly a decade. Aaron, Jeff, and Rachael sit down with Tim to talk about the persistence and confidence students build on the water and how conservation and ecosystem lessons cast a wider net than the sport itself.
Do you have some feedback for us? Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
27 min
July 29 Power concedes nothing: PSEA's union history
Where did PSEA's power to bargain, organize, and strike actually come from? Aaron and Jeff sit down for a fascinating history lesson with Corey Gochenaur, a high school social studies teacher in the Susquenita School District with a passion for union history. From one-room schoolhouses in 1852 to the historic 1968 march of 20,000 teachers on the Capitol steps, Gochenaur traces how Pennsylvania educators have fought for 174 years for the rights members enjoy today.
Do you have some feedback for us? Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
HOSTS
PSEA President: Aaron Chapin
PSEA Vice President: Jeff Ney
PSEA Treasurer: Rachael West
EPISODE CREDITS
Written and produced by David Constantin
Recorded and edited by David Arva
LINKS
Send an email to [email protected].
Learn more at psea.org/podcast.
26 min

About Duty Free Lunch

From the publisher's feed

Duty Free Lunch is the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to Pennsylvania educators and especially PSEA members. From…