The school funding trial moved into a discussion of the economic impact of education Wednesday, hearing from the first of two economists who are testifying as expert witnesses this week. Dr. Clive Belfield, a professor at Queens College, City University of New York, was called by the petitioners to testify on the fiscal and social benefits that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania can derive from education spending.
Belfield prepared two expert reports for the trial. One looks at the economic benefits of high school graduation. The other report looks at the economic benefits of increasing post-secondary attainment. Both reports point to large economic benefits from investing in educational improvement.
“There are significant economic benefits to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to Pennsylvania taxpayers from increases in educational attainment,” Belfield said.
Belfield’s testimony is expected to conclude on Thursday morning. We will provide a full report after he has completed his testimony.
Following him on the witness stand Thursday will be another scholar specializing in the economics of education: Dr. Rucker Johnson, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and expert on the role of sufficient funding in quality public education.
The day started with brief testimony from Gregg Zeff, a civil rights attorney who is legal redress chair for the NAACP ̶ Pennsylvania State Conference.
The NAACP is one of two statewide organizations that are petitioners, having joined the case when it was filed in 2014. In Pennsylvania, the NAACP has 46 chapters and an estimated 24,000 members, Zeff said. The NAACP’s mission is to eradicate discrimination at all levels, he said.
Zeff testified that he previously served as the legal redress chair for the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP. In that role, first in Philadelphia and later for the state, he was responsible for reviewing complaints from members and overseeing their investigation. He said he regularly heard complaints about education issues.
Complaints came from parents, grandparents, and older students “that we didn’t get the same things that others got,” Zeff said. The complaints might be about the quality of education, about old materials, about the conditions of buildings, about security, or about class sizes.
Zeff said he saw a direct correlation between these complaints and inadequate school funding. "Most of these complaints come from areas where there is poverty," he said, "and most of these complaints relating to quality have to do with money."
The court also got an update Wednesday from all the parties to the case on the expected timing of the trial, which is in its eighth week.
Attorneys for the petitioners, who have been presenting their case since mid-November, said they expect to call their final witness next Wednesday, Jan. 26. An attorney for the governor and secretary of education projected their case would take just one day. Attorneys for the legislative leaders said they will present their case jointly and estimated that they may need two to three weeks to present their case.