Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania only renews charters of cyber schools that agree to enrollment caps, but those schools can continue to operate without a charter. Some cyber leaders say this approach gives those schools more freedom to grow.

Work for America and its Civic Match job platform near the one-year mark with 11,000 job seekers and partnerships across states and cities.

Across the country, 35 states have laws or rules limiting cellphones and other electronic devices in school, including 18 states and the District of Columbia where phones aren’t allowed during school.

At a time when lots of Pennsylvania communities are writing data center regulations into their zoning ordinances, one Cumberland County township just pressed pause.

State Rep. Nikki Rivera has introduced legislation to ensure charter school students are taught by certified teachers, citing the risks of fully AI-driven instruction. It highlights the ongoing conversation around AI in instruction.

The state Office of Attorney General confirmed a cyber attack that encrypted files in an attempt to seek a ransom was behind website, email and phone outages last month. The office has not paid, it said.

A handful of Pennsylvania universities were among the inaugural members of the Google AI for Education Accelerator, which provides students, faculty and staff with free access to AI training.

A study by the Penn Environment Research and Policy Center found that solar panels at the state’s schools could produce enough electricity to power 187,000 homes each year.

Individuals are receiving an increased number of these types of scam messages and phone calls, officials say, with scammers using fake browser pop-ups or unsolicited phone calls to trick victims.

The state attorney general’s office confirmed a “cyber incident” in August that has left some staff and prosecutors unable to access archived emails, files and internal systems. Some civil cases have also been postponed.

Cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania spend more money educating students than traditional schools — after removing the costs of maintaining buildings and transporting students.

The state has been fast-tracking the permitting process at the governor’s direction, following an executive order. Now, officials are leveraging these improvements to invite business growth.

Some critics of Pennsylvania cyber charters overstate how cheaply they can operate, while advocates overlook how much they receive for special-ed students and how much less they spend on buildings and transportation.

The state’s Department of Labor and Industry is funding a new 14-week paid apprenticeship program in six Pennsylvania local governments, in an effort to address the workforce demand for cybersecurity analysts.

Luzerne County employees will start learning how to use an artificial intelligence program to improve county services, with around 35 to 40 county employees slated to learn how to use Microsoft 365 GCC.

Artificial intelligence places whole term papers and complex mathematical solutions within the grasp of today’s students. Rather than simply banning it, educators must train themselves and provide what it cannot.

It’s another opportunity for eligible organizations, including local governments and municipalities, to seek part of the $1.16 billion in federal grant funding allocated to the state. The goal? High-speed Internet statewide.

Unless Lancaster city leaders take action quickly, residents may have little say in the approval process for a planned $6 billion data center announced by AI and cloud computing company CoreWeave.