(Harrisburg, PA) — Senator Jane Clare Orie (R-40), Majority Whip for the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania Senate, has been selected to receive the prestigious Educational Excellence Award for 2009 from the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PA Principals Association). The award is given to a person who has been a “friend of public education” and who has made significant contributions to the attainment of educational excellence in the Commonwealth’s elementary and secondary schools. Sen. Orie will be presented with the award during the annual banquet held in conjunction with PA Principals Association’s 17th Annual State Conference on Sunday, Oct. 4, at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, Pa.

During the past year, Sen. Orie was an outspoken critic of the Governor’s Keystone Exams (formerly Graduate Competency Assessments). She is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 281, which would require legislative approval of all new graduation requirements. It is currently in the House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

“It truly is a great honor to receive this award,” Sen. Orie said. “It was originally presented to a man I greatly admired, the late Senator Jim Rhoades, former Chair of the Education Committee.  Jim was the lead critic of this testing scheme before he passed away.  He knew it was “just another fad…that won’t help a single student anywhere.’  If we are truly to help students succeed, the supports must be in place from the early years on — otherwise children are going to fall through the cracks.  I would like to thank the Association for standing with me on this issue.”

Sen. Orie, who is serving her second term representing the citizens of the 40th Senatorial District in Pennsylvania, was first elected in March 2001 to the State Senate to fill a vacancy. She won re-election in 2002 and in 2006. She currently represents portions of northern Allegheny County and southern and central Butler County. She is currently one of the 10 women serving in the Pennsylvania Senate. She is a member of the following Senate Committees: Aging and Youth; Community, Economic and Recreational Development; Finance; Judiciary; and Rules and Executive Nominations on which she serves as vice chair.

For the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 legislative sessions, Sen. Orie was selected to serve as Majority Whip for the Republican Caucus. Prior to taking her seat in Senate, she spent 4 1/2 years in the State House of Representatives. She is a veteran 10-year prosecutor who served as state Deputy Attorney General in the Division of Prosecution and as Assistant District Attorney for Allegheny County where she was elevated, due to her high conviction rate, to the divisions of Homicide and Crimes Against Persons. Sen. Orie holds a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College and a law degree from Duquesne University.

She is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Bar Associations; the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association; and she serves on the many boards of directors, some include Three Rivers Wet Weather Demonstrations Program, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Passavant Foundation, the Soldiers of Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Trust and the Center for Victims of Violent Crime.

She also serves on a number of boards of trustees/fellows, some of which include the Police Offer Support Team, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics, St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation. She is the chairperson for the Northern Area STOP Task Force and the chairperson of the Government Subcommittee for the Allegheny County Violence Task Force. In addition, she is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Government Lawyers Committee and serves on the board for the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh.

For more information or to schedule an interview or photo, please contact Sheri Thompson, PA Principals Association director of communications, at (717) 732-4999 (office), (717) 395-6814 (cell) or e-mail: sherit@paprincipals.org. 

PA Principals Association’s Mission: To ensure a quality education for every child by comprehensively supporting the educational leaders of our schools.

PA Principals Association’s Vision: To be the best service organization of its kind in the United State.