Latest news with #AaronChapin
Fox News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Reported Fetterman outburst at meeting reopens questions about Pennsylvania Dem's fitness for office
An alleged outburst by Sen. John Fetterman is reopening concerns about whether the Pennsylvania Democrat is still fit for office after suffering a stroke several years ago. Fetterman, a 55-year-old Democrat perhaps best known for his distinctive habit of almost always wearing gym shorts and a hoodie, suffered a stroke in 2022 and was later admitted to Walter Reed Hospital for depression for six weeks shortly after taking office. The Associated Press reported this week that during a meeting with teachers' union members from his state, Fetterman became agitated, began repeating himself, shouting and yelling: "Everybody is mad at me" and "Why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do?" He also reportedly slammed his hands on a desk during the outburst. The outlet reported that Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) President Aaron Chapin was present at the meeting. Neither PSEA nor Chapin responded to Fox News Digital's request to confirm or deny the incident. According to the AP, an aide cut off the meeting, ushered the visitors out and proceeded to break down crying. The outburst came shortly before New York Magazine published a story detailing concerns about his mental health from several current and former staffers. The magazine reported that staffers "paint a picture of an erratic senator who has become almost impossible to work for and whose mental-health situation is more serious and complicated than previously reported." The article extensively cites testimony from Adam Jentleson, Fetterman's former chief of staff, who voiced a plethora of concerning behavior, including "conspiratorial thinking; megalomania" and "high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self centered monologues; lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room." The article's author went on to state that many of the staffers are not only worried about his fitness as a senator but also that "he may present a risk to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself." In response to the AP report, Fetterman's office sent Fox News Digital several comments from the senator in which he neither confirmed nor denied the outburst but instead, said: "Here's what is true: We had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration's cuts to our education system." The senator said: "As a proud product of PSEA, I will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone's attempt to turn Pennsylvania's public schools into a voucher program." In reference to the New York Magazine article, Fetterman dismissed the concerns as "just disgruntled former staffers peddling lies and half-truths under the guise of 'concern.'" Fetterman said that "if those were genuine concerns, they'd pick up the phone and call me, not the press," adding, "My ACTUAL doctors and my family affirmed that I'm very well." The senator has previously labeled the magazine's report "a dumb hit piece," saying: "We've all moved on."
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
John Fetterman threw wild outburst during union meeting amid growing concerns over health issues
John Fetterman had an outburst that mad one of his own staffers cry when meeting last week with a teachers' union, in the latest story of the maverick Pennsylvania Senator's health troubles. The meeting happened the day before a bombshell report blew the lid off of the closely guarded health history of her 55-year-old Pennsylvania senator husband. Fetterman was talking to representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. He began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why 'everybody is mad at me,' 'why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do' and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred. As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman's behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting. Asked about the meeting with teachers union representatives, Fetterman said in a statement through his office that they 'had a spirited conversation about our collective frustration with the Trump administration´s cuts to our education system.' He also said he 'will always support our teachers, and I will always reject anyone´s attempt to turn Pennsylvania´s public schools into a voucher program.' Reached by telephone, Aaron Chapin, the president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association who was in the meeting with Fetterman, said he didn´t want to discuss what was a private conversation. The interaction at Fetterman's Washington office, described to The Associated Press by the two people who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity, came the day before a report by New York Magazine where several individuals made concerning accusations against him and claimed he is not making his medication. Only one staffer was willing to go public with the claims and Fetterman has denied them. Some of the anonymous staffers shared marital strife and political disagreements with his wife Gisele. Former Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson is the most public face of the story, titled 'The Hidden Struggle of John Fetterman.' One year after Fetterman's release from the traumatic-brain-injury and neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed Hospital, Jentleson wrote a letter the division's director who treated Fetterman there. 'I think John is on a bad trajectory and I'm really worried about him,' Jentleson wrote in the 1,600-word email with the subject line: 'Concerns.' He added that the senator 'won't be with us for much longer' if he doesn't change his behavior, with Jentleson claiming these are 'the things you said to flag, so I am flagging.' He began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why 'everybody is mad at me,' 'why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do' and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred One of the things he was told to flag: that Fetterman purchased a gun, though Jentleson admits the senator 'takes all the necessary precautions, and living where he does I understand the desire for personal protection.' Jentleson is referring to the hard-scrabble small town of Braddock where Fetterman served as mayor and still lives. Fetterman is accused of everything from the physical - 'not taking his meds' to eating fast-food multiple times a day - to the mental - lying, 'self-centered monologues,' 'conspiratorial thinking; megalomania' - among his issues. The senator is also allegedly obsessed with social media despite admitting it was an 'accelerant' of his depression and driving 'recklessly' to the point that staffers refused to ride with him and a police officer said it was 'a miracle no one died' after one accident last June. Jentleson also argued that 'every person who was supposed to help him stay on his recovery plan has been pushed out.' The former chief of staff later said in an interview a year after writing the letter that he's telling his side of the story because he believes Fetterman's trajectory has taken him out of consideration to lead the Democrats going forward. 'Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness but I also think he's struggling in a way that shouldn't be hidden from the public.' Fetterman's campaign is also reportedly bleeding money and losing small-dollar donors ever since he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The author, Ben Terris, spoke to Fetterman ahead of publication and got a text message from him asking: 'Why is this a story?' He added that the number of staffers leaving is typical for Washington and he is the 'best version' of himself right now. Fetterman also denied claims that toward the beginning of his first term, he had to be spoken to for 'an hour' with staffers 'trying to trying to convince him, to talk him out of some crazy fantasy' that he wouldn't be allowed in the Senate. He also said there is no truth to accusations that he began to 'sour' on his own party after bipartisan efforts to prevent him from wearing his trademark hoodie and shorts to the Senate floor. Things became somewhat more complicated when asked about arguments over Gaza; he is a staunch Israel supporter, and has met with Trump with his wife Gisele, herself having come to the U.S. as an illegal migrant. Gisele reportedly did not want to join the meeting. Fetterman called their disagreements 'very common in political marriage' and said Gisele 'has her own voice'. Gisele, for her part, told New York Magazine that Jentleson is trying to harm her husband and lied to her about his health. The Pennsylvanian had been the only Democrat senator to grace the halls of Mar-a-Lago after Trump's historic second win in November. He described Trump's mental acumen as strong as ever while speaking to the New York Magazine about the visit. The meeting went smoothly, lasting around 75 minutes, and Fetterman came out thinking the president had a different persona than he does in public and had 'fully engaged' in the conversation. 'His faculties haven't slipped at all,' he told the magazine. 'It's not that I admire it - I acknowledge it, and if you don't, you do it at your own peril politically.' Fetterman has also been keen to get to know Trump's top cabinet picks, which has led him to also meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He even voted for Attorney General Pam Bondi, making him the only Democrat to do so.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 3,000 apply for Pa. student teacher stipends in one day.
Students are led to their classroom by a teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 on March 7, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by) In only 24 hours, more than 3,000 Pennsylvanians studying to become educators applied for a stipend of up to $15,000 to fund their required semester of in-classroom training. But unless lawmakers act, many will not receive them – essentially meaning they will work for free. 'Student teacher stipends are life-changing for the aspiring educators who receive them,' Aaron Chapin, President of the state's largest teachers' union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement. 'Over the past year, I have met student teachers who are sole providers for their families and could never have completed their student teaching without the financial security that comes with receiving a stipend.' The student teacher stipend program, aimed at increasing the number of educators in the commonwealth, began last year with $10 million in funding. While thousands applied, only hundreds were able to receive funding. Later, during budget negotiations, the program received an additional $20 million, though it was still not enough to cover many applicants. This year, Gov. Josh Shapiro is proposing $40 million for stipend funding. Lawmakers, however, will have to agree to the figure during budget negotiations. The Pennsylvania State Education Association says to fully fund the program and provide stipends for all eligible student teachers, the state will need to provide at least $50 million. That's based on the roughly 4,000 applicants who applied for the 2024-2025 school year. Applications are still open on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency's website. The funding will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to qualifying, full-time student teachers who are enrolled in an approved program and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0. Though it's unclear whether lawmakers will appropriate enough money to fund additional applicants, the teachers' union is still encouraging prospective student-teachers to apply.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania Rejects Application for Cyber Charter School with AI Teacher and Two Hours of Daily Class
This article was originally published in Pennsylvania Capital-Star. The Pennsylvania Department of Education on Wednesday denied an application for a controversial cyber charter school that uses artificial intelligence called Unbound Academy, which was seeking to operate in Pennsylvania. The proposed school would have been part of a multi-state network of schools where classes are led by AI tutors and human staff serve as 'guides.' Related 'The artificial intelligence instructional model being proposed by this school is untested and fails to demonstrate how the tools, methods and providers would ensure alignment to Pennsylvania academic standards,' the Department of Education's decision said. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Human teachers' unions and advocacy groups applauded the decision. 'AI can help teachers, but it can never replace a teacher guiding a student's learning in a classroom,' Pennsylvania State Education Association President Aaron Chapin said in a statement. 'Pennsylvania's students are better off because the Department of Education rejected this cyber charter school application today.' Susan Spicka, the executive director of Education Voters of PA, a nonprofit advocacy group, called Unbound Academy's cyber charter application 'egregiously deficient.' Related The decision to reject the application cited multiple issues with Unbound Academy's initial proposal. Those included concerns about unrealistic projections for enrollment growth, whether the school could attain insurance and its ability to support special education based on the proposed budget and tuition rates. The Department of Education also said Unbound Academy's application failed to provide sufficient information about the curriculum, courses and planned student activities. 'The department finds multiple, significant deficiencies,' the decision read. 'These deficiencies, individually, collectively, and in any combination, are cause to deny the application. ' The website for 2 Hour Learning, the company that provides the AI model Unbound Academy hoped to use, says their students 'crush academics' at an accelerated pace with only two hours of academic instruction per day, based on data from their flagship 'Alpha School.' 'Traditional school is broken. It's outdated, full of busywork, and sadly for our kids, often a waste of time,' Mackenzie Price, the co-founder of 2 Hour Learning, says in a promotional video on their website. She said students at schools using their technology can learn 'twice as much in two hours per day as they would in six hours of traditional school.' Related The company says their program is already being used in schools in Texas and Florida, with more set to open in California and Arizona this fall. Since it was announced, the proposed cyber charter school raised red flags with critics of cyber charter schools, as well as lawmakers in Harrisburg. Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny), the minority chair of the Senate Education Committee, said she plans to introduce a bill calling for a moratorium on the approval of new cyber charter schools, citing Unbound Academy specifically. A memo seeking co-sponsors said operators of schools like Unbound Academy 'perceive our state as ripe for profiteering off of Pennsylvania's children and taxpayers.' The proposal is backed by Education Voters of PA. Related There are currently 14 cyber charter schools operating in Pennsylvania, and they've experienced an enrollment boom since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The schools are funded with taxpayer money, taken in part from the budgets of local school districts where their students would have otherwise enrolled. Though last year's changes to the school funding formula eased that burden by providing reimbursements for some of those lost funds. This week, Education Voters of Pennsylvania released a report on spending at the state's largest online charter school, Commonwealth Charter Academy. They found that hundreds of thousands of dollars were used on vehicles, dining, travel, entertainment and retail purchases. Commonwealth Charter Academy's chief branding and government relations officer told the Capital-Star that the findings were 'cherry-picked' and the expenditures were 'well within what is customary for organizations of like size that have a statewide footprint' Related A 2019 Department of Education report found that students at cyber charter schools typically performed worse or the same as those in traditional public schools based on academic tests. However, cyber charter students typically had higher rates of attendance and graduation. A contact listed on Unbound Academy's application did not respond to a request for comment. Related Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor for questions: info@
