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Pennsylvania State Senate
04/19/2024 09:18 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20210&cosponId=36068
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: August 11, 2021 04:28 PM
From: Senator Lisa M. Boscola
To: All Senate members
Subject: Driver's License Examination and Driver's Education Reforms
 
I plan to introduce legislation which would update and overhaul our antiquated system of driver’s education and road testing for licensure.  Third party non-commercial driver’s license centers have demonstrated great success since the Commonwealth began piloting the program back in 2016, and this is a great opportunity to continue moving forward in that direction.  The education and testing aspects of the system – from schools offering driver’s education coursework only, to private schools capable of offering all of it, to PennDOT testing centers where only the driving skills tests are administered – need to be reevaluated and significantly modified. 
 
This bill would remove oversight of driver education schools from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and place the curriculum development and certification of the instructors with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.  Additionally, this bill would take the certification of approved schools further by providing those facilities and their certified driver education instructors with the sole ability to pass or fail a student for their road test, i.e. the driver’s licensure examination.
 
For too long the law pertaining to private driver education and training schools has been left untouched and subsequently outdated.  Potential drivers today can take written examinations online, whereas applicants seeking to become driver’s education instructors travel to Harrisburg to take an exam in order to become certified.  Driver’s education instructors should not only be the ones working directly with a student – whether young or old – but should be more than capable and competent to administer the very same final examination in order to determine if an individual is not only capable to handle a vehicle but also be entrusted on our roadways.
 
Please join me in supporting this commonsense revision and update to the process in which we provide driving instruction and examinations in Pennsylvania.