On Friday, the trial for Pennsylvania’s school funding lawsuit will start. And we, the public schools community across Pennsylvania, will have our day in court.
Adequacy is at the heart of this case.
In Pennsylvania, there’s a gap between the resources students need to reach their potential, and what students have in their public schools–the adequacy gap.
Inadequate funding affects most students and school districts: 428 of 500 school districts lack the resources they need to meet academic standards, according to a benchmark written in state law. And 277 of 500 PA school districts are being shortchanged by $2,000 or more per student.
That’s a problem.
Click HERE to find out how underfunded your school district is. You will find a map with every school district on it that looks like this:
- Click on your district or enter your ZIP code to find your district.
- A box will pop up that lists the adequacy gap in your district. Click on the blue link that says, “See District Details.”
- This will open a page with a graphic specific to your district (just like the one below). You can download this graphic and share it on social media to help raise awareness in your community.
All kids deserve a high-quality public education. But Harrisburg has created a school funding system where the students who need the most, get the least, because of where they live.
Pennsylvania is more reliant on local property taxpayers to fund schools than all but six other states, with only 38 percent of funding coming from the state level.
Property taxpayers in lower-wealth districts are trying to make up the difference: they actually pay higher tax rates than those in wealthy districts. But it’s not enough, and every year, these districts struggle to meet the needs of their students, who are more likely to live in poverty, or speak English as a second language.
Unless the state of Pennsylvania steps up and pays its fair share, inequality will continue to grow in Pennsylvania public schools, and hundreds of thousands of students will continue be denied the promise of American public education because of where they are born.
Keep an eye out tomorrow for an email about two important actions you can take to support Pennsylvania’s historic school funding and our once-in-a-generation chance to break the logjam in Harrisburg to ensure all students will have the resources they need to achieve in their schools.