September 12, 2023
Pennsylvania school districts need an additional $6.2 billion to adequately educate students, according to a new analysis presented to lawmakers Tuesday. The analysis by Matthew Kelly, the Penn State professor who served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in the...
September 12, 2023
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) — State courts have ruled that Pennsylvania unfairly and unconstitutionally funds its public schools. Lawmakers formed the Fair Funding Commission to come up with a fix, starting with testimony on Tuesday in Allentown. Poorer districts like...
September 12, 2023
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers...
September 12, 2023
Pittsburgh, Pa. − September 12, 2023 − Senator Lindsey M. Williams (D-Allegheny), Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee, issued the following statement after the first hearing of the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) in Allentown: “Today, the Basic...
September 12, 2023
After a landmark trial led a Commonwealth Court judge in February to declare Pennsylvania’s school funding unconstitutional, lawmakers are confronting the next big question: how to fix it. Starting Tuesday, a series of hearings will be held across the state, with...
September 12, 2023
A commission looking for solutions to make state funding of public education more equitable met for the first time Tuesday in Allentown, where experts and Lehigh Valley superintendents testified about the dire financial straits local school districts find themselves...
September 11, 2023
State lawmakers heard from Philadelphia parents and school leaders during a Senate Education Committee hearing on Monday, and while the hearing largely centered around school choice programs, it also foreshadowed broader conversations around school funding that will...
September 11, 2023
Work gets underway this week on crafting a funding formula for Pennsylvania’s public schools that addresses shortcomings in the current funding system that the courts found to be unconstitutional. The 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission will begin a series of...
September 11, 2023
As Pennsylvania students return to school this fall, they’ll be greeted by teachers trying their best to provide excellent learning opportunities in a state public education system that has been ruled unconstitutional. What many parents, citizens, and advocates don’t...
September 8, 2023
Alan Foo gulped Gatorade for breakfast on Thursday in preparation for his sweltering job: teaching fifth graders at Bayard Taylor Elementary School, where he grew so dehydrated and groggy this week he had to seek medical attention. Taylor, built in 1907, has...
