Rural school leaders pushed for equitable funding. An influential union leader retired. A school board passed policies regarding transgender students. School districts continue to try to reach — and exceed — test proficiency rates achieved pre-pandemic.
From test scores to school board controversy, here's a look at the top education stories from 2025.
Pennsylvania School Report Card
More than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects are still felt in classrooms across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania. Most school districts have not reached test proficiency rates achieved pre-pandemic, according to a WVIA News special report. WVIA visited classrooms across the region and looked at the scores of 500 districts statewide.
Rural school leaders push for change
Historically underfunded districts receive the vast majority of new state education funding. Leaders of small, rural districts want Pennsylvania to examine the funding formula and seek cyber charter school reform.
The 2025-26 budget, not approved until November, includes changes to cyber charter funding.
Influential union leader retires
Rosemary Boland, who started teaching in Scranton in 1969, led strikes, advocated for children and provided a voice for her membership. She retired as president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers on July 1.
Columbia County district adopts policies aimed at transgender students
Policies approved by the Berwick Area School Board put student lives at risk, some community members said during contentious meetings in August and September.
After passionate pleas and statements from advocates of the LGBTQ+ community, school directors approved policies that detail when staff can refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns, and what bathrooms or locker rooms students can use.
The name and bathroom policies are the latest attack on students within the LGBTQ+ community, advocates said. In October 2024, the board banned employees from displaying most flags on district property, including the Pride flag.
A hard lesson on scams
Vanessa White Fernandes received an unexpected phone call. The caller said he worked for the Lackawanna County sheriff’s office and that the Scranton resident had missed a court hearing. If she didn’t pay a fine, she’d be sent to jail immediately.
Over the next three weeks, she said she sent the callers more than $50,000 from her retirement fund and other savings through a money transfer machine at a West Scranton grocery store. When White Fernandes eventually went to the Scranton police, officers told her nothing could be done. She came forward with her story this year, hoping to help others.
Other notable stories
Penn State identified all four regional campuses — Hazleton, Schuylkill, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre — for possible closure. The Board of Trustees voted in the spring to close Wilkes-Barre after the spring 2027 semester.
WVIA launched the Beyond the Scoreboard feature, which included stories on the retirement of legendary Lackawanna College football Coach Mark Duda, a 58-year-old freshman on the Lycoming College football team and the Wyoming Valley Challenger baseball team's journey to the Little League World Series.
Wilkes-Barre Area's Learning Academy, located within G.A.R. Memorial Middle School, begins at 7:15 a.m. with targeted support for students. The program, which has helped increase achievement, could expand with more state funding.
Don't forget to follow along each day at WVIA.org as we publish “Year in review 2025,” a week-long series recounting the top stories of the past year through New Year's Day.
