NEWS
Dead horses or live students–which will the PA legislature fund?
A recent story in the Philadelphia Inquirer shines a bright light on the cruelty and corruption in Pennsylvania’s horse racing industry. This story reports that Parx Racing in Bensalem is on pace to surpass their 2019 horse fatalities, when Parx reported 59 dead...
What you need to know about PA’s universal mask order for schools
Today, the Wolf Administration took steps to protect our children by issuing a universal masking mandate order for students, teachers, and staff in all Pennsylvania schools and childcare programs. This action was needed as more than half of Pennsylvania's 500 school...
What has been going on at school board meetings?
Pennsylvania’s public school children deserve to have the best shot possible at a year of in-person instruction in buildings where they can be safe and healthy. You can help.
BLOG: Someone should sue! The rest of us should help.
Now, public education advocates have an important role to play. We need to turn up the heat ? on the school funding problem in our communities and demonstrate public support for legal action and remedy.
How Underfunded is Your School District?
Right now, 86% of Pennsylvania students attend schools that don’t receive adequate resources for education, according to state law.
A Sad Day for Higher Education in PA
On July 14, 2021--on the heels of COVID, in the dead of summer, with many consequential questions left unanswered--the Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) unanimously approved consolidation plans for three universities in...
State legislature passes up opportunity to address systemic inequities plaguing PA school districts
The General Assembly passed the 2021-2022 state budget yesterday and we expect that Governor Wolf will sign it. Please find an overview of key education-related pieces below. This budget is not what we had hoped for in a year when the state legislature had a $3...
Eight out of ten Pennsylvanians favor ending horse racing subsidies, large majority supports redirecting funds to college scholarships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2021 Media Contact: Susan Spicka Eight Out of Ten Pennsylvanians Favor Ending Horse Racing Subsidies, Large majority supports redirecting funds to college scholarships Harrisburg, PA --The vast majority of Pennsylvanians would prefer to...
Tell lawmakers to oppose amended Senate Bill 1 & 2% coupon on cyber charter tuition
In a cynical attempt to get enough votes to pass Senate Bill 1--the massive school privatization bill--Republicans approved an amendment in the Senate Education Committee that removes the statewide charter school authorizer (this is good) and includes what...
ALERT: Stop Harrisburg from taking hundreds of millions of dollars from public school students
Today, Monday, June 7, the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee voted to advance legislation that would take hundreds of millions of dollars away from students in our local public schools and steer this money into private/religious schools, tax breaks for...
Ed Voters’ statement on second post-race drug test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit
The Kentucky Derby doping scandal and the May raid on the Parx Casino race track to a gaming industry rife with misconduct and desperate for a complete overhaul
Harrisburg is steamrolling harmful PA public university consolidation
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is made up of fourteen public universities located in communities throughout the commonwealth.When PASSHE was established in 1982, its purpose was to provide a high quality education at the lowest...
Would you help with our to-do list?
We don’t ask for money enough. There—I said it. Education Voters is a go-to resource for information, for advocacy, and for following what is happening in Harrisburg. And we have been a leading force in Pennsylvania’s education advocacy and policy community. We...
It’s time to Level Up school funding in Pennsylvania!
Pennsylvania has among the widest funding gaps in the country between high-wealth and low-wealth school districts. The severe underfunding for students in less affluent districts is the reason behind the school funding lawsuit, which is set to go to trial in September...
What the American Rescue Plan means for PA schools
Pennsylvania will receive nearly $5 billion in one-time federal funding for K-12 schools in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 through the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER). Ninety percent of the ARP ESSER funding, or $4,372,333,875, will...
Underfunded: Inside the Fight to Fairly Fund Public Schools in Pennsylvania
PA’s General Assembly has no goal to fully fund public schools. That, plus an unfair system for splitting a pot that’s too small, pits districts against each other. It’s time to end the hunger games and #FundOurSchoolsPA
Learn more on Underfunded, episode 1, a new podcast focused on the fight to fairly fund Pennsylvania’s public schools.
BREAKING: Trial in PA school funding lawsuit on track to begin in September
For a generation, Pennsylvania’s legislative leaders have refused to live up to their constitutional responsibility to fairly fund public schools so that all students, not just those from certain zip codes, are equipped with the tools and skills they need. A group of...
The per horse subsidy through the Race Horse Development Fund is nearly three times the per student state subsidy for students in the State System of Higher Education!!
Paying for college is one of the biggest worries facing Pennsylvania families - especially now. Governor Wolf wants to create a new program - the Nellie Bly Scholarships - for 44,000 students attending PASSHE schools so more students can attend college and...
Join our special guests to learn about charter school special education funding
Special education funding for charter schools is a hot topic in Harrisburg. For the first time ever, we have a real chance to fix Pennsylvania's charter school law to eliminate profits that charter schools reap off of special education tuition payments and to increase...
Proposed Charter School Reforms are Welcome, Necessary, and Long Overdue
February 26, 2021 HARRISBURG, PA (February 26, 2021) – Susan Spicka the executive director of Education Voters of PA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide public education policy and advocacy organization issued the following statement in response to Governor Wolf’s...