About




Keystone State Education Coalition



The Keystone State Education Coalition was originally established in 2006 as the Southeastern Pennsylvania School Districts’ Education Coalition (SPSDEC). It is a growing grass roots public education advocacy group comprised of several hundred locally elected, volunteer school board members (no salaries, no benefits, no pensions) and administrators from over 300 Pennsylvania school districts in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Indiana, Jefferson, Lackwanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, McKean, Mercer, Montgomery, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Washington and York Counties.



Our focus is on improving student learning and achievement for all Pennsylvania public school students. 



We are a “non-partisan” group of school directors with political affiliations comprising both political parties and independents.  Our objective is not to promote the political agenda of either party, but rather to advocate for kids - for “best practices” in education, for fiscal responsibility to the local taxpayer, for effective use of their tax dollars, and for local control of public education. 



We believe that public education is the foundation of our democracy, and that there is essential intrinsic value in children of all races, religions, special needs, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds learning together.  In contrast to private businesses whose mission is to make a profit, we believe that the mission of public education is to make informed American citizens.



Our mission is to evaluate, discuss and inform our boards, district constituents and legislators on legislative issues of common interest.  



Our “special interests” are our stakeholders – students, parents and taxpayers.



We have been actively engaged in policy discussions and the legislative process on issues such as tax reform, graduation exams, adequate and equitable school funding, best practices, safe schools, oversight and funding of charter schools and cyber charter schools, mandate relief, school nutrition regulations, vocational/technical schools and vouchers.  We have presented testimony on those issues to the PA House and Senate Education Committees, the PA House Republican Policy Committee, the PA Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the PA House Democratic Policy Committee and the PA Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

Keystone State Education Coalition Co-Chairs:


Shauna D’Alessandro, 12 year retired Master School Board Director, West Jefferson Hills School District, Allegheny County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2014

Lawrence A. Feinberg, School District of Haverford Township, Delaware County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2011

Lynn Foltz, Wilmington Area School District, Lawrence County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2015

Mark B. Miller, Centennial School District, Bucks County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2014

Roberta M. Marcus, 20 year retired Master School Board Director, Parkland School District, Lehigh County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2012

Valentina Viletto, General Counsel, 8 year retired school director, Cheltenham School District, Montgomery County
PSBA Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award 2013



About Blogger Lawrence A. Feinberg:


A member of the School District of Haverford Township school board since 1999, Feinberg has earned a reputation as a leading advocate for public education statewide. He serves as chairman of the Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council where he has been a member since 2000. In 2006, he founded and now co-chairs the Keystone State Education Coalition, a non-partisan grassroots public education advocacy group, where he publishes a daily PA Education Policy Roundup that reaches more than 3500 state and federal policymakers. He was recently appointed to his fifth two year term as a member of the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network.

Feinberg has provided legislative testimony before several PA legislative and regulatory committees.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the PA School Boards Association and a participant in the Pennsylvanians Opposed to Vouchers Coalition, the PA School Funding Campaign Steering Committee and the Philadelphia Education Fund’s Education First Compact.

In 2011, he received PSBA’s first annual Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. In 2012, Feinberg received the Media Area NAACP’s Foot Soldier for Justice Award in recognition of his commitment to universal public education and advocacy efforts, and was invited to join a group of Pennsylvania education leaders to meet with senior administration education policy advisors at the White House.  In November 2012 he was recognized by Diane Ravitch as a “hero of public education” and model education activist. 

He previously served as chairman of the Board of Managers of the Main Line YMCA and as a member of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity. Feinberg attended Philadelphia public schools, is a graduate of LaSalle University and attended Villanova University for graduate business coursework. He is president of The Local Group Inc., an information systems consulting firm that he founded in 1992 and has over 30 years of business consulting experience. A long-time runner, he has started and finished 25 marathons.