NEWS
Did your state rep’s vote make Betsy DeVos proud?
Budgets are about priorities and yesterday 147 members of the PA House made it clear that funding scholarships for students to attend unaccountable private/religious schools is one of their top budget priorities this year. They made school privatizer Betsy DeVos...
Our response to Senator Eichelberger’s recent town hall comments
We were deeply disappointed to read recent comments that newly-appointed Senate Education Committee Chair, Senator John Eichelberger, made at a town hall meeting in central Pennsylvania. The Carlisle Sentinel reported that Sen. Eichelberger had this to say about...
Our statement on Governor Wolf’s 2017-2018 budget proposal
Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of PA, made the following statement about Governor Wolf’s 2017-2018 budget proposal: We recognize that this is a difficult budget year and are encouraged by Governor Wolf’s continued commitment to taking...
$100M in Waste and Inefficiency & Segregation by Disability: It’s Time to #FixSpecialEdFunding
As Pennsylvanians rally to stop Betsy DeVos from becoming Secretary of Education (and Senator Pat Toomey tries his hardest to ignore us), we are working with a coalition of parents, disability rights advocates, faith leaders, and advocacy groups to build public...
We Can Do This
As we brace for what promises to be an all-out assault on our children’s public schools from politicians in both Washington, DC and Harrisburg, we must remember that our grassroots people power has successfully defended our children and their public schools before,...
Trump’s appalling pick for Secretary of Education
Donald Trump’s pick of billionaire Betsy DeVos to run the US Department of Education signals that the Trump administration will be focused on privatizing public education instead of on strengthening our public schools or expanding opportunities for all students....
What’s Next?
The recent national election portends a significant shift in the direction of federal education policy in the United States and raises serious concerns for those of us who care about equity and an opportunity to learn for all students. Our work has never been more...
Governing the School District of Philadelphia
There is a conversation happening in the City around the issue of local control of the School District of Philadelphia, and moving away from a state run district. It is virtually inarguable that the state controlled School Reform Commission has not solved the issues...
Charter schools shouldn’t profit off students with disabilities
State lawmakers widely acknowledge that Pennsylvania's charter school law is flawed, outdated, and must be revised. Nevertheless, year after year, Harrisburg has failed to fix its own broken charter school law. Lawmakers have failed to protect taxpayers, they have...
Now We Wait
Yesterday, the PA Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the school funding lawsuit. The courtroom was packed with parents, advocates, faith leaders, school and elected officials, and community members from throughout the Commonwealth. Supporters who believe...
Our statement on the oral argument before the PA Supreme Court for the school funding lawsuit
Following oral argument of the school funding lawsuit before the PA Supreme Court, Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of PA, made the following statement at a press conference at Philadelphia City Hall: My name is Susan Spicka and I am the Executive...
What you need to know about oral argument before the PA Supreme Court for the school funding lawsuit and how you can be part of it
On Tuesday, September 13, the PA Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the landmark school funding lawsuit in its Philadelphia courtroom and we invite you to be part of this important event. The lawsuit argues that PA's school funding system is so inadequate and...
We have a budget for 2016-2017. What does it mean for schools?
The 2016-2017 PA budget is now complete. Yesterday a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the PA House and Senate approved a revenue package and Governor Wolf signed it into law. This budget provides an increase of $200 million for K-12 Basic Education Funding, $20...
Update on HB 530 & still no revenue to fund the PA budget
Thanks to the very significant efforts of education advocates who contacted lawmakers with concerns, HB 530 (the harmful charter school legislation) has not gone up for a final vote in the House (yet). We are continuing to monitor HB 530 and other school code...
URGENT–Lawmakers and Governor Wolf MUST oppose HB 530–legislation that would make PA’s charter school law even WORSE
The PA House is moving charter school legislation today that would make PA's charter school law even WORSE than it already is. HB 530 is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It is NOT a genuine effort to improve the quality of education children in the Commonwealth receive,...
Join the July 27th Statewide Call to Action: Lawmakers must take steps toward ending PA’s school funding crisis this year
State lawmakers must take steps to end PA's school funding crisis this year. Lawmakers are negotiating a budget in Harrisburg right now and need to hear from you. Click HERE for your lawmakers' contact information. Call and email your state representative and state...
Share your school’s story
This week the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) released their annual survey of Pennsylvania's public schools. This report demonstrates what parents and community members who care...
Tell lawmakers to fund our schools
Pennsylvania’s school funding crisis is an urgent problem that must be addressed this year. Our children get only one opportunity to receive the education that they will need to be successful students in school today and productive citizens in the Commonwealth...
We have a formula (great news)! Now what?
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...
How much do PA schools need to properly educate all children?
Pennsylvania did a good thing when it adopted the bi-partisan Basic Education Funding Commission’s (BEFC's) fair funding formula for sending new state funding to school districts. It is long past time that the era of backroom deals that delivered new funding to...