Matthew Stem was the state’s top K-12 education official from 2015 to 2021.
(Photo: PA Dept. of Education)
On the witness stand all day on Tuesday in Commonwealth Court was Matthew Stem, who was deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education from 2015 to 2021. In this position, he was the top official in charge of K-12 education for the state.
Petitioners called him as a witness to speak to the department’s goals and policies during his six-year tenure. His responsibilities as deputy secretary included overseeing almost all the functions of elementary and secondary education in the state — excluding finances: areas such as curriculum, career and technical education, special education, federal programs, and school services. He oversaw state assessment systems and supported the state Board of Education in developing academic standards.
Stem, who is from Lancaster, left the Department of Education six months ago and is now assistant executive director of the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit, but testified Tuesday about his work at PDE.
Stem is a career educator. He worked in various roles in the Lancaster School District for 19 years, starting as a teacher and ultimately as assistant superintendent. Immediately before his PDE position, he served as assistant superintendent of the Wyomissing School District in Berks County.
The prior witness in the school funding case before the court took a Thanksgiving break was education finance expert Matthew Kelly, a Penn State professor, who highlighted shortfalls and disparities in education funding across the state. “School districts do not have the funds they need to be able to give their students a chance to meet state standards,” Kelly said in his Nov. 19 testimony.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Stem addressed questions about Pennsylvania’s academic standards and their purposes. In a full day responding to questions from attorney Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg of the Public Interest Law Center, Stem also spoke to the variety of assessments that are used to measure student competency in relation to those standards.
And he was asked to discuss gaps in academic performance on standardized tests between different student populations, and similar gaps in graduation rates and college attainment. He also discussed strategies that the Pennsylvania Department of Education sees as effective for improving educational outcomes and preparing students for college and career.
We will provide a more detailed account following the rest of Stem’s testimony and cross-examination, which could conclude on Wednesday.
On deck as a witness after Stem is the superintendent of the Greater Johnstown School District, Amy Arcurio. Greater Johnstown will be the second of the six petitioner districts to put forward witnesses at trial.