Fair Funding in the News

Editorial in Reading Eagle: Pennsylvania has the widest gap in per-student spending between wealthy and poor districts of all 50 states. As we have repeatedly seen, students in underfunded districts lack educational necessities as basic as textbooks and safe buildings, while students in the well-funded districts next door have state-of-the-art labs and Olympic-sized swimming pools. … Read more

Editorial in Pottstown Mercury: Montgomery County K-12 Public Schools cumulatively would have received $315 million more from the state over the six years since the Fair Funding Formula was introduced, if the formula were used for all PA Basic Education Funding! Who pays that price of this inequity?  Our students do, with cuts to needed … Read more

Editorial in Delaware County Daily Times: Delaware County K-12 Public Schools cumulatively would have received $195 Million more from the state over the six years since the Fair Funding Formula was introduced, if the formula were used for all PA Basic Education Funding! Who pays that price of this inequity?  Our students do, with cuts … Read more

Editorial in Lancaster: As School District of Lancaster Superintendent Damaris Rau pointed out at a virtual news conference last Friday, poor school districts often have the highest property tax rates.  That’s because they’re forced by state underfunding to raise taxes on resident property owners. And because city school districts tend to have within their boundaries … Read more

Editorial in Pottstown Mercury: Our eyes and ears are open to what is going in in Harrisburg regarding Fair Funding. We are watching both Republican and Democratic senators and representatives. This is an issue for all Pennsylvanians, regardless of town, income, faith or affiliation. More students in Pennsylvania are underfunded than overfunded, and ALL students … Read more

https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/historic-pa-public-school-funding-lawsuit-finally-heading-to-trial-this-fall/ But they say that they don’t believe it’s possible to fix funding disparities – and to ensure that all students have access to an adequate education – without dramatically increasing the level of state funding that Pennsylvania provides to its 500 public school districts each year.  “We can’t just split the pie differently,” Kristina … Read more

This opinion piece from the Inquirer looked at the Public Citizens for Children and Youth report on education inequities in the Philadelphia suburbs. It’s notable that PCCY found the achievement gap to be worse in districts that had tighter budgets. Where districts were more affluent and in communities where the cost of entry is a … Read more

A joint letter from the leaders of the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools (PLUS) and the Pennsylvania Association for Rural and Small Schools: “The funding gap perpetuates poverty across rural and urban Pennsylvania, while worsening existing racial disparities. These disparities constantly reset a vicious cycle that many black and brown students find themselves trapped in. … Read more

Article in WITF: I noticed that a lot of times underfunded schools have older schoolbooks, less adequate facilities, and don’t have the same extracurriculars or opportunities as other schools… and some of them aren’t even recognized by colleges or recruiters. Crystal Echeverria https://www.witf.org/2021/03/16/advocates-say-2021-is-key-for-education-equity/

Found in our last newsletter: https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/voices-of-inequity-report-shows-how-pa-policy-harms-underfunded-schools/article_8a09c05a-627f-11eb-b3fb-83f462790491.html https://www.thereporteronline.com/opinion/editorial-legislature-cant-be-held-harmless-anymore/article_4e9b4166-722d-11eb-ac6d-2f56c075c49b.html

Letter to the Editor in the Reading Eagle: Our state continues policies that are glaringly racist. According to the Education Law Center, our funding system underfunds 52% of students in the state. If you look at this from the perspective of race, the numbers grow more obvious and horrifying, as 78% of Black students and … Read more