On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Legislature voted to permanently adopt the fair funding formula that we supported along with our allies from the Campaign for Fair Education Funding.  Governor Wolf has said he will sign this into law. This is excellent news and we have you to thank for it!

This formula is result of the tireless activism of advocates like you who contacted  your lawmakers and spoke up loudly. You made it clear to Harrisburg that it was unacceptable for school funding to be determined by deals cut in backrooms by powerful lawmakers.  The formula will now allocate new school funding to schools based on objective factors in a rational way. You can learn more about the formula HERE.

We should all take a moment to celebrate this very significant victory, but also recognize that our work is not yet done, The formula alone will not end Pennsylvania’s school funding crisis; it is only as good as the money that flows through it. Pennsylvania’s schools remain appallingly underfunded and this formula will only make a difference for our children if the PA legislature chooses to invest significant new funding in education.

Click here to sign and share our petition telling the PA Legislature to fund Pennsylvania’s schools in the 2016-2017 budget.

The formula alone will not help prevent the Erie School District from being forced to consider closing all of its high schools.  It will not prevent the Wilkes-Barre School District from cutting 50 teachers and eliminating many valuable programs from its schools.   The formula alone will not prevent hundreds of school districts throughout the Commonwealth from increasing class sizes and making more cuts in programs and services for students again this year.

In order to begin to get school funding on track, we need lawmakers to make a commitment to provide significant new investments in education. We need lawmakers to go to Harrisburg to support a responsible budget for 2016-2017 that contains enough new sustainable revenue to provide a $400 million increase in funding to our schools this year.

Click here to sign and share our petition calling on PA lawmakers to fund our schools.

This is going to be an especially difficult budget season in Harrisburg. Lawmakers face a gaping $1.8 billion deficit in the 2016-2017 budget that is the direct result of years of irresponsible and gimmick-filled budgets. We are going to have to support lawmakers as they dig deep to find the courage to pass a responsible budget that contains new sources of adequate and recurring revenue so that they can close this deficit and fund the things that matter in our communities, like our kids’ schools.

We will keep you updated on what is happening in Harrisburg as budget season heats up. For now, though, thank you again for your advocacy and hard work that helped PA achieve a fair funding formula for Pennsylvania’s public schools.

Best,

Susan Spicka, Director, Education Voters of PA

PS: If you believe in the work that Ed Voters is doing, please click HERE to make a donation to help us reach more people , train more advocates, and build a stronger movement to support quality public schools in every community in Pennsylvania.