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HARRISBURG, PA (June 5, 2024) – PSEA President Aaron Chapin today commended members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for their leadership in advancing legislation to establish a plan to dramatically increase public school funding and begin to fix Pennsylvania’s unconstitutionally broken school funding system.

House Bill 2370 reflects key elements of the Basic Education Funding Commission’s majority report, which PSEA strongly supported when it was released on Jan. 11. The House could vote on the bill on final passage next week.

“This bill reflects a historic moment for public education in Pennsylvania. The state representatives who have crafted it are true leaders in the fight to fix our unconstitutionally broken public school funding system,” Chapin said. “We are very grateful for their leadership and their commitment to adequate and equitable public education funding. When this bill comes up for a final vote, we hope all members of the state House will support it. Pennsylvania’s students can’t afford to wait.”

House Democrats have made it clear that investing in Pennsylvania’s public schools is a top priority. House Bill 2370 also reflects recommendations Gov. Josh Shapiro included in his FY 2024-25 proposed budget, which includes a $1.1 billion funding increase for Pennsylvania’s public schools.

The creation of adequacy targets, the establishment of a plan to close adequacy gaps, and the increased state investments in public schools that House Bill 2370 proposes would allow many school districts to increase their per-student expenditures and would allow all school districts to make critical investments in programs that help students learn and keep their schools safe and healthy.

In addition, the legislation would allow school districts with adequacy gaps to use additional state funding to increase minimum salaries for professional employees to $60,000 a year and minimum wages for support professionals to at least $20 per hour. PSEA has emphasized how important it is to raise pay for school staff members to address a crisis-level school staff shortage.

“This bill is a tremendous first step toward delivering what our public schools need so that they can provide the public education that our constitution requires,” Chapin said. “Investing in our students’ learning and increasing school staff members’ salaries and wages so that we can attract more qualified, caring adults to the education profession are absolutely essential.

“We can’t offer students equitable education opportunities if we don’t have the staff available to provide instruction on programs, lower class sizes, and implement strategies to improve student achievement.

“We’re grateful to the state representatives who share these values, and who have worked so hard to make this a reality.”

Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, student teachers, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.