Republicans for Public Education

Pennsylvania Republican Is Committed to Voting for Candidates Who Support Public Education

Growing up in a family of Democrats did not automatically lead to Anne Loeffler becoming a Democrat. She is a Republican in the conservative region of south central Pennsylvania. What’s important to her in an elected official, Democrat or Republican, however, is that a candidate be strong on supporting public education.

“John McCain came to Philadelphia after Obama was named the presumptive Democratic nominee. With all of the prominent issues he could have spoken about, he chose to speak about vouchers and school choice,” Anne said. “He spoke about how the children of the D.C. area will sadly lose vouchers because of Congress and that it’s been a proven success. I’ve been reading about vouchers, and I know it’s been totally unsuccessful. But he was telling the people of Philadelphia that it was successful. I almost fell off the chair in my kitchen,” she said.

At that moment, Anne got up and emailed the Government Relations Department at PSEA to see what could be done to get the word out to members about John McCain’s position on vouchers. She said she is speaking to as many members as she can, and that the most important thing she can do as an activist is to get out the facts to members.

As a speech therapist for 30 years, Anne sees the need for adequate funding for public education every day. Anne works with all special needs classrooms at Lincoln Intermediate #12. From children with physical handicaps, to those with autism and children who need help with “life skills,” Anne makes sure that her students are cared for properly.

Anne wasn’t always politically active, but the one issue that pushed her into the political arena is vouchers. Former Republican Gov. Tom Ridge pushed for vouchers. She said her friends felt squeezed, and she felt the repercussions in her own job. Anne decided enough was enough and decided to get active politically. “I realized that we cannot sit idly by and expect things to happen the way they should,” Anne said. “We need to fight for what we believe!”

Her big sister Mary Flaherty Artuso, a lifelong Democrat and head of the Democratic Caucus at PSEA said, “finally!” Together, they are fighting the good fight in Pennsylvania. In addition, Anne and her husband David, a Democrat, serve as co-regional directors of PACE for the southern region.

As a bipartisan team, they are opening a lot of doors with state legislators and with PSEA members. They are working together through phone banking and volunteering on political campaigns to get the word out on education issues to PSEA members. “I am a PSEA/NEA member who believes that teachers cannot sit quietly like a boat on the water hoping to get to the shore,” Anne said. “We have to dig in and row to make things happen.”