Latest Press Coverage


Finances looking good for Titusville School District

The Meadville tribune

10/23/2024

As part of the historic Commonwealth Court ruling in February 2023 that found the state’s school funding system unconstitutional, Titusville Area School District is budgeting for Pennsylvania’s payout.


Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visits Emmaus High School for ceremonial signing of $1.1 billion public school funding increase

the morning call

9/5/2024

Last year, a Commonwealth Court judge sided with several school districts in a lawsuit that argued Pennsylvania’s school funding formula is so unequal that it is unconstitutional. The new state budget aims to begin correcting that inequality by increasing funding to struggling school districts via a new “adequacy formula” that directly increases the budget of underfunded schools. Around half of the funding increase — $526 million — is being allocated through that new formula.


New year, new funding: Pa. investment in education takes first test

Fox 43

8/27/2024

The Central Dauphin Middle School Band greeted Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro with music on Tuesday morning, as the governor touted the state’s new investment in education. "For the first time ever, based on that law right there that I’m going to sign, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is going to invest $11 billion in schools," Shapiro said.


Gov Shapiro, education officials unite to sign bill for additional education funding

Fox 29 philadelphia

8/9/2024

Pennsylvania elected officials say they are working to improve public education in the Commonwealth with a historic infusion of new dollars while advocates say keep it coming.


After years of ‘minimizing damage,’ Pa. educators seek predictability, more opportunities for students

wvia news

7/28/2024

Waite and other leaders say the budget approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro this month begins to address the funding system deemed unconstitutional by Commonwealth Court. But a strong commitment and greater predictability for the future are necessary, educators said.


New Pennsylvania budget brings help for underfunded Schuylkill County schools

Republican Herald

7/27/2024

The recently approved Pennsylvania budget has brought welcome news for underfunded Schuylkill County school districts struggling to cover their rising costs. Each of the county’s dozen school districts will receive increases in basic and special education funding and will get larger Ready to Learn block grants this year for pre-K to third grade education.


Pennsylvania Legislature and governor get an incomplete grade on effort to remedy underfunding of public schools [editorial]

lancasteronline

7/17/2024

It may seem ludicrous to describe $1.1 billion in total increases in K-12 public education funding as a half-measure. That’s a vast amount of money, after all. But the needs of Pennsylvania’s underfunded schools — including those in the School District of Lancaster — are vast, too. And the newly signed state budget failed — yet again — to fully deliver what the students of those schools need.


Pa. just made a significant investment in public education. Why are advocates worried about it?

the Philadelphia inquirer

7/12/2024

Public education advocates claimed a win in Pennsylvania’s new budget: a formal recognition by the state that schools need an additional $4.5 billion to adequately educate students.


Pa. lawmakers reach $47.6 billion budget deal with sweeping changes to public education

the Philadelphia inquirer

7/11/2024

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a $47.6 billion state budget deal Thursday night after weeks of negotiations, featuring sweeping changes to the higher education landscape and how the state funds its public schools.


Budget sends $500M more to Pa.’s poorest schools, falling short of what some say is needed

spotlight PA

7/11/2024

After weeks of tense, secretive negotiations on Pennsylvania’s budget, the legislature has approved a $47.6 billion spending deal that falls short of the investment in public schools Democrats first proposed and is far more than Republicans wanted to spend.


Education funding reform bill passes Pa. House as Senate school voucher plan waits in the wings

Pennsylvania capital-star

6/10/2024

A $6 billion plan to reform Pennsylvania’s public education funding system passed the state House in a bipartisan 107-94 vote Monday amid growing debate over a proposal to expand the amount of public money available to pay for private school tuition.


Spurred by court ruling, Pa. House Democrats advance bill to boost K-12 spending by $1.1 billion next year

Pittsburgh post-gazette

6/4/2024

The quest to overhaul a Pennsylvania K-12 school funding system that has been deemed unconstitutional entered a new and potentially contentious phase Tuesday, when a committee vote to approve a proposed fix had all Democrats in support and all Republicans opposed.


Pa. House Democrats want to solidify 7 years of funding for the poorest schools

90.5 WESA

5/9/2024

Pennsylvania House leaders are planning to introduce legislation intended to close funding gaps between the Commonwealth’s poorest and wealthiest school districts over seven years.


Hundreds of students, parents, educators meet at the State Capitol to urge lawmakers for more public school funding

fox 43

5/8/2024

Advocates from across the Commonwealth came to the State Capitol in Harrisburg on Wednesday to urge for equitable funding for public schools. They say the nearly $2 billion increase in educational funding in Governor Shapiro's 2024-2025 budget could help accomplish that goal.


School officials view state funding plan as ‘game changer’ and ‘transformative’

Republican herald

2/25/2024

With the release of his budget for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Josh Shapiro has won praise from those who have been fighting for fair funding for decades. But veterans in that fight know that it is still but a first step.


Pottstown School Board working to get fair funding over the finish line

The Mercury

2/17/2024

With the release of his budget for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Josh Shapiro has won praise from those who have been fighting for fair funding for decades. But veterans in that fight know that it is still but a first step.


Gov. Shapiro seeks school-funding boost to help poorer districts, but Republicans remain wary

AP

2/8/2024

Gov. Josh Shapiro is taking the first step in what is shaping up to be a complicated, yearslong process to respond to a court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s system of public school funding violates the constitutional rights of students in the poorest districts.


Poor schools are prepared to return to court if Pennsylvania budget falls short on funding plan

AP

1/4/2024

The poor schools that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania last year are prepared to go back to court if the Legislature and governor don’t adequately address shortfalls as key junctures approach, the schools’ lawyers said Thursday.


Lawmakers grapple with fixing Pa.’s unconstitutional school funding system

SPOTLIGHT PA

9/14/2023

Months after a landmark court decision found Pennsylvania's public school funding system unconstitutional, a commission tasked with resolving statewide disparities held its first series of hearings this week.


Pa. lawmakers on the clock to get new school funding system in place

PENNLIVE

9/13/2023

Education advocates behind the lawsuit that declared Pennsylvania’s school funding system unconstitutional put lawmakers on notice on Wednesday that they expect a “reasonable timeline” for the full implementation of a formula that is fair and equitable.


Pennsylvania’s schools say victory in court is final and Legislature needs to increase funding

AP

7/24/2023

Lawmakers should take action to address a now-final court ruling that Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools violates the constitutional rights of students in poorer school districts, lawyers for the districts and groups that sued said Monday.


Efforts to overturn Pa.’s landmark education funding lawsuit thwarted

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

6/21/2023

The new decision means it’s up to lawmakers to fix the state’s broken school funding system — unless they decide to appeal. Republicans now have 30 days to do so.


Pennsylvania school allies criticize Shapiro’s budget plan

AP

3/8/2023

Lawyers for the districts that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania say that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal falls short of the financial commitments that are needed to help the state’s poorest school districts.


With court win, Pennsylvania schools want plan, down payment

AP

3/1/2023

When Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveils his first budget next week, the poor districts that won a landmark school-funding lawsuit will want to see him propose a significant down payment and a plan to overhaul how the state pays for K-12 education in what could be a term-defining moment for the Democrat.


Underfunded schools are unconstitutional, Pa. court rules

THE WASHINGTON POST

2/8/2023

A state court judge ruled Tuesday that some of Pennsylvania’s schools are so underfunded that they violate students’ constitutional right to an education, a ruling that could force the state to change how it allocates money to schools.


Landmark Pa. school funding case decided: The state’s system is unconstitutional

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

2/7/2023

In a 786-page decision, Judge Renee Cohn Jubilerer said that over the course of the more than three-month trial that ended a year ago, the petitioners had demonstrated “manifest deficiencies.”


Poorer districts win challenge to Pa. public school funding

AP

2/7/2023

A Pennsylvania judge ruled Tuesday that the state’s system of funding public schools falls woefully short and violates students’ constitutional rights, siding with poorer districts in a lawsuit launched nearly a decade ago in pursuit of billions of dollars in additional annual aid.


Still awaiting ruling, Pennsylvania’s school funding lawsuit stretches into 2023

WHYY

1/3/2023

The task is twofold: First, based on the state’s constitution, determine what standard of education Pennsylvania owes its public school students. And second, decide whether the current system violates that standard.


Pa. students have more educational opportunities than the national average, but racial disparities are among the worst, study says

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

10/13/2022

Pennsylvania students overall receive more access to educational opportunities than the national average, but disparities by race and income are some of the largest in the country, an analysis has found.


New PA school year: Underfunded districts, unresolved lawsuit

KEYSTONE STATE NEWS

8/10/2022

After eight years, the Pennsylvania school-funding lawsuit is in the hands of the judge, creating a waiting game heading into the new school year.


School funding lawsuits are long, frustrating, and crucial for fighting inequality

VOX

7/11/2022

A new school funding lawsuit, first filed in 2014, will soon be decided in Pennsylvania. The outcome matters not only for families in Pennsylvania but for school advocates nationwide who are trying to decide if these cases still make sense for them to pursue.


Pa. failing to provide ‘a high-quality education,’ litigants say in latest case

WILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE

6/16/2022

The state Legislature is violating the state Constitution by failing to provide “a high-quality education” to every child


Your View by Rev. Gregory Edwards: Racial injustice is on trial in Pennsylvania school funding case

THE MORNING CALL

5/26/2022

The trial provided ample evidence that Pennsylvania shortchanges most of its students by not ensuring adequate state funding — especially black and brown students and students in low-wealth communities.


Jerry Zahorchak: Pennsylvania must fund local education, for the students’ good — and the state’s

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

5/25/2022

Fewer than half of Pennsylvania students are able to demonstrate proficiency in reading and math. Thousands graduate unprepared to succeed in a world demanding far more than basic literacy.


AG Josh Shapiro sides with plaintiffs in school funding lawsuit, saying Pa. is violating its constitution

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

5/17/2022

A Democrat running for governor, Shapiro submitted the filing at the deadline for amicus briefs in the ongoing school funding case, which centers on claims that Pennsylvania funding is inadequate.


Study at issue in PA school funding case revised to show poor kids get less

CHALKBEAT

4/25/2022

Researchers acknowledged that an analysis used by Pennsylvania officials to argue that the state’s funding system doesn’t shortchange poor students was flawed.


Attorneys in fair funding trial to make oral arguments July 26

LANCASTER ONLINE

4/23/2022

Attorneys for the six public school districts and legislative leaders will make oral arguments on legal issues in the case before Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer on July 26 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 3001 of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg.


Want to fix Pennsylvania's education system? Fund our preschools

THE INTELLIGENCER

4/1/2022

The gains that students make in pre-K can only be sustained if there is thorough support for students in elementary and high schools, which of course also requires adequate funding.


Editorial: Fair funding push moves from courtroom to streets

THE REPORTER

3/21/2022

In Pottstown, they declare it a fight for justice; in Reading, a rally for fairness; Lansdowne, a movement to right a wrong, and in Norristown, a call for the children in poor schools to get their due.


For media inquiries, contact Jonathan McJunkin at Public Interest Law Center,
or
Paul Socolar at Education Law Center.