Key Issue: School Funding
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Key Issue: School Funding

In February 2023, the Commonwealth Court ruled after a lengthy trial that Pennsylvania’s public school funding system is unconstitutional. In January 2024, a report adopted by a majority of the Basic Education Funding Commission made it clear that elected officials must provide billions in new state dollars over the next seven years to ensure our school funding system passes constitutional muster.

PA’s students have waited decades for policymakers to take bold action to address school funding equity. Fixing PA’s broken public school funding system must be a top priority in Harrisburg.

Shapiro signs state budget with historic funding increases for public education

The FY 2024-25 state budget that landed on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk on July 11 continues a multiyear trend of historic funding increases for K-12 public education.

In the aftermath of the Commonwealth Court’s February 2023 decision finding that Pennsylvania’s public school funding system is unconstitutional, these funding increases are even more critical, and elected officials have responded to PSEA’s repeated calls for decisive action to fix the broken system.

“There’s nothing more important than investing in Pennsylvania’s public school students and the educators and support professionals who teach and serve them every day,” said PSEA President Aaron Chapin. “This budget continues a series of historic funding increases, which we absolutely need to fix our unconstitutionally broken school funding system.”

Funding increases in key K-12 programs

The new state budget includes an $811 million increase in total basic education funding, a $100 million increase in special education, a $50 million increase in school mental health programs, and $100 million for school facilities repairs.

Four years of historic basic education funding increases

The budget’s basic education funding increase for school districts, the key source of state revenue for Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, continues four years of historic increases. Since FY 2021-22, these cumulative increases have added a total of $2.4 billion to K-12 public schools.

Led by pro-public education legislators and two successive pro-public education governors, this multiyear project is a significant investment in the total funding increase that the Basic Education Funding Commission’s majority report determined that the state needs to direct to public schools in order to address the school funding system’s unconstitutional inequities.

PSEA has been at the forefront of advocacy efforts to encourage elected officials to take this seriously and make these investments.

“Increasing public school funding and fixing our broken funding system have been PSEA’s top priorities for years,” Chapin said. “This work is clearly paying off, and we have more work to do.”

A new, more equitable public school funding formula

The amount of money the state spends on public schools is critical, but the way state law distributes that money to school districts is just as important.

Using the Basic Education Funding Commission’s majority report as a guide, the state budget made adjustments to the formulas used to send state money to public schools, based on the amount of money school districts spend per student and their relative tax effort. These adjustments will improve the predictability and stability of the formula. In addition, the state budget includes $100 million to reimburse school districts for some of the tuition they pay to cyber charter schools.

New higher education scholarships and an increase in student teacher stipend funding

The final budget also includes $25 million for the new Grow Pennsylvania Scholarship Grant Program, in-state tuition incentives through the Grow Pennsylvania Merit Scholarship Program, and $20 million for the new student teacher stipend program.

The Grow Pennsylvania Scholarship Grant Program will be administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, beginning in 2024-25. Under the program, Pennsylvania students who are enrolled in approved courses of study, including education, will be eligible to receive a $5,000 grant in exchange for agreeing to work in Pennsylvania for 12 months for every year a student receives a grant.

It also established the Grow Pennsylvania Merit Scholarship Program, which will allow the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to charge the in-state tuition rate for first-time, freshmen, nonresident students who commit to work in Pennsylvania after graduation. Eligible nonresident students must be enrolled in an approved course of study, which includes education, and agree to work in Pennsylvania for 12 months for each academic year a student receives a scholarship.

Testimony and Reports

March 05, 2024

Dr. Pamela Brown, PSEA Southeastern Region President - House Democratic Policy Committee

November 09, 2023

PSEA President Aaron Chapin testifies to Basic Education Funding Commission in public hearing

BEFC Report

Majority Report adopted by Commission - Jan. 11, 2024

In the Press

March 18, 2024

Reading Eagle Op-Ed: Our students can’t afford to wait

March 14, 2024

Bradford Era Op-Ed: Our students can’t afford to wait

February 08, 2024

PA Capital-Star: Pennsylvania reacts to Shapiro’s budget address

February 06, 2024

Washington Observer-Reporter: Lawmakers, organizations offer mixed reaction to Shapiro budget proposal

February 06, 2024

PennLive: Shapiro calls for historic $1 billion increase for public schools

February 05, 2024

Fox 43: Pa. public schools face funding challenges ahead of Shapiro budget address

March 18, 2024

Reading Eagle Op-Ed: Our students can’t afford to wait

January 24, 2024

Spotlight PA: Long-sought charter school changes on the table as Pa. lawmakers plot education funding overhaul

January 21, 2024

LNP/Lancaster Online Editorial: It’s long past time for Pa. to fund public schools fairly

January 17, 2024

Lancaster Online Op-Ed: Basic education funding report is just the end of the beginning

January 13, 2024

Indiana Gazette: Local officials react to education commission recommendations

January 11, 2024

PennLive: Blueprint for changing Pa. school funding system draws partisan divide

January 11, 2024

Associated Press: Democrats’ education funding report says Pa. owes $5B more to school districts

January 11, 2024

Spotlight PA: Pa. needs to spend $5.4B to close gap between rich and poor schools, report advanced by Dems says

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