Statement on the 2022-2023 State Budget

Below is Pennsylvanians for Fair Funding’s statement on the 2022-2023 State Budget as passed on July 8, 2022: The Commonwealth has a finalized 2022-2023 budget, and there’s clear progress for public school students and their families and teachers. Specifically, the budget includes a $750 million increase in Basic Education Funding and a $ 1 0

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Fix This Now!

In the Reading Eagle: “It’s the year 2022,” she said. “Seventy-five kindergarteners are sharing one toilet in Panther Valley. Twelve-hundred students have two reading specialists in Greater Johnstown. Ten-thousand-plus students are served by zero math interventionists in Lancaster. Fifteen-minute recesses are all some 5-year-olds have because there are no staff to supervise longer in William

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Not Everyone Needs Cake

In The Inquirer: “Imagine a baking competition — the Great Pennsylvania Bake-Off — where contestants must bake the best cake. Contestant A is given cookbooks, state-of-the-art equipment, and a fully stocked pantry. Contestant B receives one grocery bag of expired ingredients, no recipes, and an Easy-Bake Oven. When A’s beautiful cake wins, one commentator says

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Chambersburg School

In the Hechinger Report: “Chambersburg school officials simply do not have the funding they need to provide robust support for the town’s ever-increasing numbers of immigrant and refugee students. They do not have the necessary funding to offer professional development to boost culturally relevant and responsive teaching. They do not have funding to hire adequate school counselors,

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Denied Opportunities They Deserve

In Chalkbeat: “Harbert repeatedly said she believed although the district had its share of success stories, many students are being denied the opportunities they deserve. Despite being able to offer many AP courses, she said, without early intervention and extra services when they are younger, many students cannot access those courses. Dale Mezzacappa https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2022/1/7/22871473/pennsylvania-fair-funding-trial-resumes

More Difficult Decisions to Come

In Central Daily: “Those of us living in the State College Area School District are lucky. Our district isn’t yet forced to choose between transportation and orchestra based on available funding. But make no mistake, districts in our state face this scenario and even more difficult decisions year after year. Jackie Huff and fellow newly

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School Counselors in Pottstown

In The Reporter: “Pottstown School District, for instance, is $13.5M underfunded each year, therefore many standard programs that properly funded school districts have routinely implemented for years have been cut to balance the district budget. Elementary school counselors are one such resource that had been cut from the Pottstown schools, as well as other underfunded

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A Systemic, Widespread Failure

In Philadelphia Inquirer: “I’m not going to stand here and say all of the school buildings … are the Taj Mahal,” said Patrick Northen, a lawyer for House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster). But he said children have “chairs to sit in, desks or tables to write at, walls and roofs, working plumbing” — and

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Competing Visions of ‘Thorough and Efficient’

In WHYY: “But when I moved to Pottstown and went into their school district, the differences were absolutely there,” Chavalaporn said. “The classrooms looked totally different,” there wasn’t the same technology, like Chromebooks, and teachers had fewer resources to support students. Mallory Falk https://whyy.org/articles/its-about-children-struggling-pa-school-funding-trial-kicks-off-with-plea-by-plaintiffs/

This Case Isn’t About Numbers

In Pennsylvania Capital-Star: “This case isn’t about numbers. It’s a case about people,” Katrina Robson, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in Commonwealth Court before Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer. “It’s about children struggling to overcome circumstances that they can’t control.” Marley Parish https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/lawsuit-over-pa-school-funding-goes-to-trial-witness-testimony-begins-next-week/

Delco Times Editorial

In Daily Times: This could be the start of change that at long last provides equality in education as guaranteed in the state constitution. The time is right to make history and give all students in Pennsylvania a fair chance to succeed. https://www.delcotimes.com/2021/11/14/editorial-pa-fair-school-funding-lawsuit-gets-a-date-with-history/