Tue. Jan 7th, 2025

Lancaster County Democrats selected Manheim Township School Board President Nikki Rivera to replace retiring state Rep. Mike Sturla in the Pennsylvania House 96th District race. (Contributed photo)

Ending her 30-year career as a high school Spanish teacher is bittersweet, state Rep.-elect Nikki Rivera said, knowing that she’ll be leaving her students but advocating for them and others across the commonwealth when she heads to the Pennsylvania Capitol next year.

Rivera, a Democrat, was elected to the 96th Legislative District seat in Lancaster County after state Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) announced in August he would end his reelection campaign and retire at the end of his term. Rivera won the election by a 20% margin over Republican Eric Beezer.

First elected to public office as a Manheim Township school director in 2016, Rivera told the Capital-Star in August that she hopes to carry on Sturla’s work. He was among the state lawmakers who developed a plan for education funding reform after a state court declared Pennsylvania’s system to be unconstitutional. 

​​”It feels good knowing that I’m going on to advocating for public education at the state level. I like the transition that I’m making into the career that I’m endeavoring in next,” Rivera said.

In addition to teaching, and serving as the Manheim Township School Board president, Rivera is also vice president of the intermediate unit that provides educational services and support for schools in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

Rivera was preparing for parent-teacher meetings at Warwick High School in Lititz when she spoke to the Capital-Star in November about her district, the issues it faces and her legislative priorities.

Capital-Star: What is unique about the 96th District?

Rivera: House District 96 is very diverse in that I have urban and suburban and I go from from the middle of Lancaster City up to Lititz in the suburbs, and then over to the east to East Petersburg borough. So it’s a very diverse population. 

Not every aspect of House District 96 has the same needs. So I’m going to need to be attentive to what each municipality needs.

As part of the central Pennsylvania delegation in the House Democratic Caucus I will be working closely with Rep. Smith Wade-El, and representatives from the Reading area. So I will get  to work directly with people who are close to me and have you know as we travel north into reading have some of the similar demographics.

People purchase their homes in Manheim Township and the Lancaster area because of the quality schools. It’s a big draw for for people to live here, the property values, it’s a very desirable area, and Manheim township in particular continues to grow in population, unlike a lot of the neighbors

C-S What are the biggest issues that your district faces?

Rivera: All three of the schools that encompass House District 96 are underfunded. So alleviating property tax increases by having fairly funded schools and fully funded schools will be of priority to me, especially coming out of teaching for 30 years.

The equitability of funding education, I think, is of primary importance, because having a well-educated population leads to a great economy, health and wellness and things like that.

Lancaster city is underfunded by a whole lot more than Manheim Township, which is underfunded by a whole lot more than Hempfield School District.

They have great programs, but to bring everything up to par with what other schools around the state have would be the fair way to approach educating our kids. It shouldn’t matter what zip code they come from. It should be equitably funded.

It’s not getting done in as timely of a fashion as it was supposed to. So I think there’s still work to be done and pressure to be placed, not only to increase the funding to the level that would bring us into constitutionality, but also things that weren’t accounted for in the budget were cyber charter reforms. 

While more funding has gone in, controlling how the funding is going out has not happened.

C-S: Is there any legislation that you plan to introduce when you’re sworn in?

Rivera: I’m part of a large team, a statewide team, so I want to collaborate as much as I can. But of course, my priorities lie in education and also in wages that match the cost of living. If we have full time jobs at Turkey Hill at a certain wage, then there should be housing in the area that meets that wage. And we are certainly at a shortfall of housing. So there’s, there are a number of things that I am considering collaborating with and on but I don’t have an exact list yet.

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