About Us
Helping Pennsylvania educators see the regulatory framework that governs their profession.
I am a practicing attorney who lives and works in Verona, PA, outside of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. One part of my practice is meeting and counseling educators charged with misconduct.
I am also a PDE Approved vendor of an Act 48 ethics course for classroom educators. This past summer my Act 45 continuing education course for school and system leaders was also approved.
Paul Fox is my co-author and co-presentor on both courses.
On January 31 we began presenting Session 1 of PIL Class #2 with one Beaver County middle school principal and a Career & Techonology Center administrator.
In October, 2023 we began presenting the PIL Class#1 with two Beaver County superintendents. We completed Session 4 officially on November 15.
In August 12, 2022, PDE's Carla Wilson emailed me saying our PIL Course entitled: PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes & School Law had been approved.
On 4-6-22 we presented “Codes, Case Studies & Conundrums–The Challenges of Ethical Decision-
Making in Education” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Annual Conference.
On 7-21-21 Paul presented “Catch the E-Train–Essential Ethics for new Educators” to the
Pennsylvania
Music Educators Association (PMEA) SummerConference
.
On 4-23-21 Paul presented ETHICS “Hop on the E-Train–Essential Ethics for the new Educator” at the National Association for Music Educators Eastern Division Conference.
On 4-19-21, Paul presented “Ethics....Concepts, Case Studies, and
Conundrums”
virtually to students of
VanderCook College of Music Administration Class.
We presented PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 3 on 2-23-21 .
On 2-9-21, Paul presented "Going Beyond Codes of Ethics” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association's Council on Teacher Training Recruitment & Retention Collaborative Webinars on Teacher Ethics–Part 2.
We presented PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 2 on 1-30-21.
On 1-12-21, I presented "Ethics The Basics–PA Code of Conduct” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association's Council on Teacher Training Recruitment & Retention Collaborative Webinars on Teacher Ethics–Part I.
We presented
PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 1
to Westmoreland County middle and high school educators on 12-30-20.
Paul presented 9-30-20 “Ethics... Essential–Concepts, Case Studies, and Conundrums” at
Slippery Rock University of PA
on 9-30-20 and then again at
Grove City College
on 10-13-20.
Municipal and School Law Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association as a Continuing Legal Education Live Webinar
. We presented our first ethics workshop "Pennsylvania Educators–Their Concerns During COVID and Educator
Misconduct Complaints” on 7-16-2020.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
approves my Act 48 application
on 7-16-2020.
Thereafter, we presented to classroom educators only. We have presented on-line and hybrid presentations where Paul was in person and I was remote. In August, 2023, our PIL course was approved. We have presented to superintendents, middle school principals and Career and Technical Center directors. This April, we will resubmit our Act 48 course to satisfy PDE's new Professional Ethics competencies and standards for classroom educators.
On February 7, PA Commonwealth Court issued the long-awaited William Penn School District v. Pennsylvania Department of Education trial opinion. As I begin to read the opinion and follow the weekly progress of the case, I post my findings here in the William Penn blog.
On January 31 we began presenting Session 1 of PIL Class #2 with one Beaver County middle school principal and a Career & Techonology Center administrator.
In October, 2023 we began presenting the PIL Class#1 with two Beaver County superintendents. We completed Session 4 officially on November 15.
In August 12, 2022, PDE's Carla Wilson emailed me saying our PIL Course entitled: PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes & School Law had been approved.
On 4-6-22 we presented “Codes, Case Studies & Conundrums–The Challenges of Ethical Decision-
Making in Education” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Annual Conference.
On 7-21-21 Paul presented “Catch the E-Train–Essential Ethics for new Educators” to the
Pennsylvania
Music Educators Association (PMEA) SummerConference
.
On 4-23-21 Paul presented ETHICS “Hop on the E-Train–Essential Ethics for the new Educator” at the National Association for Music Educators Eastern Division Conference.
On 4-19-21, Paul presented “Ethics....Concepts, Case Studies, and
Conundrums”
virtually to students of
VanderCook College of Music Administration Class.
We presented PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 3 on 2-23-21 .
On 2-9-21, Paul presented "Going Beyond Codes of Ethics” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association's Council on Teacher Training Recruitment & Retention Collaborative Webinars on Teacher Ethics–Part 2.
We presented PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 2 on 1-30-21.
On 1-12-21, I presented "Ethics The Basics–PA Code of Conduct” to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association's Council on Teacher Training Recruitment & Retention Collaborative Webinars on Teacher Ethics–Part I.
We presented
PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes Session 1
to Westmoreland County middle and high school educators on 12-30-20.
Paul presented 9-30-20 “Ethics... Essential–Concepts, Case Studies, and Conundrums” at
Slippery Rock University of PA
on 9-30-20 and then again at
Grove City College
on 10-13-20.
Municipal and School Law Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association as a Continuing Legal Education Live Webinar
. We presented our first ethics workshop "Pennsylvania Educators–Their Concerns During COVID and Educator
Misconduct Complaints” on 7-16-2020.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
approves my Act 48 application
on 7-16-2020.
Thereafter, we presented to classroom educators only. We have presented on-line and hybrid presentations where Paul was in person and I was remote. In August, 2023, our PIL course was approved. We have presented to superintendents, middle school principals and Career and Technical Center directors. This April, we will resubmit our Act 48 course to satisfy PDE's new Professional Ethics competencies and standards for classroom educators.
We value our customers as individuals and as the educators that work within the Pennsylvania public school system everyday.
We both attended Pennsylvania public schools K-12. Our children attended Pennsylvania public schools K-12. Paul taught his entire career as a music teacher within the Pennsylvania public schools. After my first year at Girard College in Philadelphia, I taught secondary social studies for 25 years in Pennsylvania public schools. As a result, we want to continue to make a quality Pennsylvania public school education available to families now and in the future.
We want to provide knowledge to educators about their ethical codes and the statutes, regulations and caselaw that govern their occupation.
In addition, we want them to practice discussing difficult ethical issues with their fellow educators. With this experience, we believe they will be able to help themselves, and other educators, make better professional decisions in the classrooms and hallways of their local education agencies.
Tom Bailey, Esq.
Civil and criminal defense litigator in Harrisburg, PA and Wilmington, NC (1986-1991).
Social studies teacher (grades 8-12) at Girard College, Philadelphia, while attending Temple University's Intern Teaching Program (1992-1993).
Social studies teacher (grades 11-12) at Edison-Fairera Skill Center, Frankford HS and Simon Gratz HS, School District of Philadelphia (1993-1999).
Social studies teacher (grades 9-12) at Hempfield Area HS, Hempfield Area School District, Greensburg, PA (1999-retired 2018)
Reinstated PA Law License and became Pennsylvania Department of Education Approved Act 48 Provider 2020; PDE approved PIL Provider 2022.
.
Paul Fox
State Chair of Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment and Retention.
Retired public school teacher (music in grades K-12) from Edgewood School District (2 years) and Upper St. Clair School District (33 years)
Performing Arts Curriculum Leader (2006-2013) for the
Upper St. Clair School District
Presenter, author, blogger, and publisher of more than a dozen articles and 20 workshops/webinars on educator ethics.