The proposed new investments and efficiencies, if adopted as a package, will be a win for rural, urban, and suburban students and communities across the commonwealth

HARRISBURG, PA (February 4, 2025) –Education Voters of PA, a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization that supports strong public schools in every community in the commonwealth, made the following statement regarding Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposed 2025-26 executive budget:

This budget proposal once again demonstrates Governor Shapiro’s strong commitment to supporting public education. The proposed new investments and efficiencies, if adopted as a package, will be a win for rural, urban, and suburban students and communities across the commonwealth.

The proposed $494 million investment in adequacy funding reflects a second installment of funding that takes a step toward closing the $4 billion adequacy gap that was acknowledged in the bipartisan budget agreement reached last year and that must be filled to reach constitutional compliance. The proposed second investment of $32 million in tax equity funding would help relieve pressure on property taxes in districts that have the highest local tax burdens in the commonwealth.

The proposed investments of $75 million in Basic Education Funding and $40 million in special education funding combined with the proposed $278 million in net savings to school districts on their payments to cyber charter schools would ensure that all districts in the commonwealth go into the next school year with much-needed additional funding that can be invested in supporting students.

The budget creates efficiencies in spending by proposing the discontinuation of the cyber charter transition line item, which was funded at $100,000,000 in FY 2024/2025. It replaces this line item with a new cyber charter reform proposal that would utilize a standard regular education tuition rate for cyber charter schools of $8000 per student. The net impact of these two changes would be a savings of approximately $278 million for school districts. This would introduce a rational system for funding cyber charters that more closely aligns districts’ payments to cybers with the cost of educating students at home on a computer, replacing the current, irrational system that bases school district tuition payments on the cost of educating students in their school district buildings.

It is important to note that cyber charter funding reforms have been elusive in Harrisburg in the past. These reforms must be non-negotiable this year as the proposed funding increases for basic and special education will be inadequate to allow many school districts to keep pace with inflation. Failing to enact cyber charter reforms as part of the final budget would continue both to leave children in district schools behind and put additional pressure on local communities to raise property taxes just to keep up with inflationary and increased cyber charter tuition costs.

We also applaud the additional proposed new investments in facilities, pre-K, career and technical education, grants for school security and student mental health, and other areas that will provide additional resources to support students.

We most strongly urge the General Assembly to adopt Governor Shapiro’s proposal for education funding as a package and look forward to working across the commonwealth to build support for this investment in Pennsylvania’s public school students and in the commonwealth’s future.

Thank you for your support of public education,

Susan Spicka, Executive Director, Education Voters of PA