Dr. Amy Arcurio, superintendent of Greater Johnstown School District, a petitioner in the lawsuit, spoke at a press conference following closing arguments in Harrisburg on March 10, 2022, joined by other petitioners and the attorneys representing them.
Good afternoon everyone. I’m Dr. Amy Arcurio, and I’m the Superintendent of Greater Johnstown School District.
I grew up in Cambria County, and I have lived in Johnstown for nearly 24 years. Our city was once a thriving hub of coal and steel industry. Those jobs have now largely gone away. Many of our long-time residents are seniors on fixed incomes, and property values are declining. More than 90% of my students are economically disadvantaged, and many live in deep Census poverty.
We never lost, though, that hardworking blue-collar spirit in Johnstown, and we are fighting every single day to reinvent our city. We need our students to be part of that.
No matter what challenges our students face, I know that they can graduate ready for college and careers if we are able to give them the support and resources they need. It is our moral duty as public school educators to do that for every student who walks through our doors.
But I am here today because our leaders in Harrisburg have created a school funding hunger games that makes it impossible for low-wealth districts to provide that support for their children.
It starts very early. We have a waitlist for our Pre-K program, and most students start school behind. 80 percent of our elementary school kids need individual or small group support to catch up on just their basic reading and math skills. But unfortunately we cannot afford to hire the staff we need to give each of our student that individualized attention—not even close. For 1,200 elementary students, we have two reading specialists. Every year, I have to make impossible, sometimes awful decisions, about which students I can give that extra help to. I know that kids are falling behind.
Since we had to close our middle school, those elementary school students have learned in a jam-packed building where we need to use every single space available. That means that many of our students, particularly those who need the support of small classes, like those kids who need help in reading and in math, are taught in converted supply closets, hallways, and other spaces that were never meant to be classrooms for children.
Our administrators, board of directors, and teachers are extraordinary individuals. They do so much with so little, and they do everything they can to make a closet not feel like a closet. But it breaks my heart to see our students working and learning in those conditions. They truly deserve better.
It has been really an honor to be part of this case with the other superintendents, organizational leaders, and parents that have been here with us through this trial. Each and every one of them could tell you about how Pennsylvania’s insufficient and inadequate state funding for public schools affects their students as well, every single day. There are hundreds of thousands of students across Pennsylvania who are missing out on what they need to reach their potential because they live in low-wealth districts like mine.
We come from cities, we come from small towns, and we come from suburbs. We are from every corner of the Commonwealth. And we all believe in our students. We are here to ask the state of Pennsylvania to fund our schools like they believe in our students, too.