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We spoke with Pennsylvanians ‒ parents, students and community members ‒ about how underfunding in PA schools is affecting them directly.
What they told us confirms what we already know: Students who need the most get the least, because of where they live. This has to change. And this fall, we're taking the state to court to make it so.
For more video on the case, go to fundourschoolspa.org/video.
Trial in a historic lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s school funding system is now scheduled to begin on Friday, November 12, following a request for a 30-day extension from Sen. Jake Corman due to an unforeseen medical emergency of an attorney in the case. Petitioners in the case send their best wishes for good health and a full recovery.
Read moreCommonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer announced the new trial date, a month later than the previous start date of September 9, during an August 17 pretrial conference. [She issued an order with the new trial date on August 18.] The later date will allow superintendents and other petitioners who filed the case against state officials additional time to provide up-to-date specifics to supplement the evidence and testimony gathered during earlier stages of the litigation.
Read moreHARRISBURG, PA (JULY 29, 2021) — A powerful early victory came for plaintiffs in the PA school funding case, as Commonwealth Court today largely rejected PA House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler’s attempt to block the introduction of evidence about the massive racial achievement gaps in Pennsylvania public schools and the severe underfunding that is driving those disparities.
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The state capitol dome in Harrisburg
Public school students in Pennsylvania will soon have their day in court. A Commonwealth Court order released June 22 has scheduled trial to begin on September 9, 2021, in Courtroom 3002 of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg. This confirms a tentative trial date announced on April 1 in a historic lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s school funding system.
Read moreWe’ve spent the last few months interviewing people all over the state to find out the history of underfunding in PA, what it’s doing to students, teachers, and families all over the state, and where it all could go from here. And we’re ready to show you what we’ve found.
This is Underfunded, and it’s coming soon wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now and visit FundOurSchoolsPA.org to find out more.
Read more“For years, our school funding system has allowed students who need the most to get the least, because of where they live,” said Education Law Center executive director Deborah Gordon Klehr. “This proposal finally recognizes that reality – and the reality that the enormous shortfalls in education funding across the state require the state to find additional revenues. We wholeheartedly support the governor’s groundbreaking proposal as a giant step in the right direction that helps to tackles the chronic shortfalls in state funding for both basic education and special education. As laudable and necessary as the proposal is, it is not enough by itself to right the deep wrongs our irrational school funding system has brought to our communities for decades.”
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