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PA Schools Work. Harrisburg? Not so much…
Constitutionally inadequate.
That’s what the State Supreme Court thinks of how the legislature funds schools, concluding that current levels are well below what students need to meet basic reading and math standards.
The ruling, published this week, gave lawmakers one year to boost funding to meet adequate levels and address how to bridge the gap between wealthier and poorer school districts, an endeavor that could mean an additional $1 billion.
Unfortunately for PA students, this ruling doesn’t help them much. That’s because this 8-year-old case was before the Kansas Supreme Court, not the Commonwealth.
A similar lawsuit here at home, commonly referred to as the Fair Funding lawsuit, continues to claw its way forward before the Commonwealth Court. In response to unsuccessful suits in the past, education advocates including PCCY formed a coalition that worked hard with Republican and Democratic legislators to create a fair funding formula that’s been the law of the land since 2016.
But PA needs at least $3 billion to deliver on its constitutional duty to fund schools adequately for every public school student across every economic demographic.
A growing number of the state’s 501 school districts are struggling to make up the difference in their budgets between the state’s meager contribution to education and the revenues they generate at the local level to sustain their schools. The state’s failure to keep funding on pace with the rising costs of mandated district expenses like pensions, special education, and charter school tuition has a lasting impact on kids’ education throughout the Commonwealth.
The news is full of reports of districts hiking taxes to provide for their children because the State isn’t:
These stories were published just this morning. More reports preceded these and more will follow. In the region, a whopping 9 out of 10 districts are raising property taxes this year. Unlike Kansas, Pennsylvania has already figured out how to adequately fund all schools and the formula is enshrined thanks to bipartisan cooperation. So what gives?
Not the legislature.
The good intentions of the legislature rings hollow with only 8 percent of total education funding flowing through the Fair Funding formula and PA languishing at 47th place in national rankings of state contribution of state funding.
There’s more work to be done.
Picking up from where the Fair Funding coalition left off, PCCY is excited to announce the launch of PA Schools Work, a non-partisan grassroots campaign that implores the state to ensure that all Pennsylvania students attend public schools that provide them with resources to graduate with 21st century skills to ensure success in college and their careers.
In the coming year, 40% of the districts expect to increase class size, 36% anticipate reducing staff, 30% are likely to cut programs and services and an astounding 75% expect to raise property taxes.
These cuts exacerbate the equity and adequacy gaps in how schools are funded. As a leading partner of PA Schools Work we believe that the gaps, which are increasing, cannot be filled by simply redistributing the state’s basic education funding allocation. The state must invest enough and fully fund the formula, so that it can do its job.
Pennsylvania’s schools work – for students, their communities and the economy when we fully invest in students and provide them with the resources they need to succeed. An adequate investment in our students secures our collective future.
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