REPORT: Hold Harmless: A Quarter Century of Inequity at the Heart of Pennsylvania’s School System – Jan 2021

Jan 26, 2021

This report reveals the significant harm done by the education funding system paradoxically known as “hold harmless.” This system fails to account for the massive shift in district enrollment, resulting in an education funding system that’s among the most inequitable in the nation.

Implemented in 1992, hold harmless is the policy that school districts cannot receive less funding than they did the year prior. Shrinking districts have lost a total of 167,000 students—a fifth of their student body—since 1991–92. They now have $590 million tied to students they no longer educate. Growing districts have 204,000 more students today than in 1991–92, but they have largely been denied the additional funding needed to compensate for the increase in students.

Along with the report, be sure to download this PDF: Key Data by School District

We have translated the Executive Summary into Spanish and can be found here: Hold Harmless: Un cuarto de siglo de Iniquidad en el Corazón del Sistema Educativo de Pennsylvania

Attend a Community Budget Meeting

Philadelphia students cannot afford fewer teachers or other support staff. City Council can vote to prevent those cuts. Speak up on behalf of students! Attend one (or more) of the upcoming public events and tell councilmembers, “No cuts to schools!” Sign Up, Show Up, Speak Up because Our Kids Are Worth It. Need help with your testimony? Check out our testimony as well as these talking points. We can also help – reachout to frangyp@childrenfirstpa.org. Click the image to download a PDF that you can share.

Postcards: Print, Sign & Share

These postcards are available for your community group or organization to print and share with your members. Postcards can be dropped off to 990 Spring Garden Street, Suite 600 or you can scan and send to info@childrenfirstpa.org. We also have printed postcards available to pick up at our office. Click the image to download a PDF that you can share.

Lower Travel Costs! Options are available.

The Mayor’s proposed tax on ride share companies will protect public schools and ensure students have the resources they deserve. If ride share companies choose to pass these costs directly onto riders, there are options for individuals with disabilities to help lower their travel costs. Click the image to download a PDF that you can share.