PA Schools Work Education Talking Points Memo

Posted by PA Schools Work on June 27, 2023

PA Schools Work is a non-partisan coalition of organizations from across Pennsylvania representing teachers and other educators; urban, suburban, and rural communities; and parents and community members working together to advocate for PA public schools, their students, and the communities they serve.

For more information about the PA Schools Work campaign, click here.

We know that when Pennsylvania students are given the proper tools and resources to succeed, they not only meet expectations, they surpass them. But Pennsylvania’s school funding system is underfunded by over $4 billion, despite high local tax efforts, leaving more than 80% of all districts underfunded according to the state’s own adequacy formula. Underfunding is not just a problem in urban school districts. Rural school districts across the Commonwealth suffer from the fallout of our underfunded public school system.

To meet its constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education, the General Assembly must take immediate action. The increased education funding in the state budget just passed by the House is the kind of down payment needed to begin dealing with the deep inequities in the state’s school funding system. Importantly, even with these increases, the state will still have a $5 billion surplus and $5.5 billion in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Each state Senate district in Pennsylvania would benefit from increased investment in the House-passed budget amendment. The Senate should embrace these new investments for Pennsylvania’s students and pass them as part of the final state budget.

Read more of the Education Talking Points Memo.

Click here for map of House Budget Education Funding Increases (BEF/Level Up) by Senate District.