Pa. budget 2023: How a landmark school funding lawsuit is shaping negotiations [View all]

[FakeNoose]

Spotlight PA link: https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2023/06/pa-budget-2023-school-funding-lawsuit-commonwealth-court/

HARRISBURG — A court decision requiring Pennsylvania lawmakers to make the funding system for public schools more equitable is front and center in this year’s budget negotiations, but the issue will not be resolved by the looming deadline. Commonwealth Court ruled in February that the current school funding scheme is unconstitutional, but did not prescribe a solution, leaving it up to lawmakers to find an answer.

The budget has a deadline of June 30, and while some lawmakers hope to include extra education funding in deference to the court’s ruling, talks over a larger education overhaul are expected to last much longer. The Democrats who newly control the state House are pushing for a large funding increase, and also want to boost money specifically earmarked for the poorest districts.

Republicans are reluctant to spend down the commonwealth’s multibillion budget surplus, citing concerns about a possible economic downturn. Many also say they want any school overhaul to include more publicly funded scholarships for students to attend private or charter schools, a policy that many Democrats argue weakens public schools.

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Pennsylvania uses two different formulas to determine how much money goes to each school district. One is generally seen as outdated and unfair because it doles out cash based on 30-year-old enrollment numbers, which means it routes relatively more money to shrinking districts and less to ones that have grown in recent decades, and doesn’t account for factors like student poverty. The other is considered to be more responsive to districts’ needs, but it’s only used for funding that has been added to the budget since 2016.

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There's no easy or quick way to solve the school funding problem. The question is, will the Repukes show some leadership and work with the Governor and the House Dems? I'm betting the answer is "no."