Education Voters of PA stands in solidarity with communities that are protesting for an end to police violence against Black men, women, and children and are working to build a more just society where everyone, no matter the color of their skin, can live without fear and thrive.

As individuals who care about public education, we have an obligation to name and speak out against the systemic racism and oppression that have created gross disparities in Pennsylvania’s public education system.  

The global pandemic laid bare the vastly different opportunities available to students in wealthy whiter school districts versus poor districts that educate large numbers of Black children and children of color. The laptop or iPad that is standard issue in wealthy, majority-white districts is a distant dream in many districts that educate a majority of Black children and children of color.

But the disparities are much deeper than that.

A 2019 study from Research for Action, “Unequal Access to Educational Opportunity Among Pennsylvania’s High School Students,” found that the size and pervasiveness of race and income disparities in access to educational opportunity in Pennsylvania are among the most severe in the country. The study used Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data to evaluate educational opportunities for students in the categories of access to quality educators, access to college ready curriculum, and access to a positive school climate.  

This study found that the degree of inequity that exists in access to educational opportunity in Pennsylvania stands among the worst in the nation. Few states provide so much opportunity to their White students and yet so little for their Black and Hispanic students.

• White high school students in PA have higher access to educational opportunity compared to White students in most other states.

• In contrast, Black and Hispanic high school students in PA have lower access to educational opportunity than do their Black and Hispanic peers in most other states.

• PA’s gaps in access to educational opportunity rank among the five worst nationwide in terms of both race and poverty. On the report’s Average Opportunity Score, PA’s Black students, Hispanic students, and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) all experience at least a 10% point gap compared to their White and non-FRPL peers.

The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have ignited protests and started substantive conversations at the national, state, and local level about the system of policing—who it was designed to protect and keep safe.

We must also address decades of systemic disinvestment in public schools that have harmed and continue to harm Black children and children of color.

The disparities in opportunities in Pennsylvania’s public schools and in public schools throughout the nation are not an accident and they were not inevitable. Instead, they are intended result of policy choices deeply rooted in systemic racism. 

Education Voters will continue our advocacy work for adequate funding for public education in Pennsylvania, including additional federal aid for public education so that school districts can open safely this fall. We will also continue our call for funding reforms to charter schools so that taxpayer money will be spent educating students, not funneled into the private pockets of advertising firms and CEOs and shareholders of profit management companies.

In addition, we are very excited to be part of a recently-formed equity collaborative, whose sole focus is finding targeted solutions to address the impact of current state funding practices on the most under-resourced school districts in the state.

Education Voters is committed to working advocates, communities, and organizations throughout the commonwealth to build a fair and just education system in Pennsylvania where Black children and children of color will have the resources and supports they need to stay alive and thrive.

We are grateful for your support.