Democratic lawmakers in Harrisburg took the first step last week to provide $5.1 billion in new funding to Pennsylvania's public schools to close the gap between the richest and poorest that a court ruled unconstitutional last year. .
The bill in the state House, sponsored by Rep. Mike Starla, D-Lancaster, follows the recommendation of the bipartisan Education Funding Commission to comply with a Commonwealth Court judge's order to fix the education funding system. .
Democratic lawmakers say the General Assembly has a constitutional obligation to eliminate the funding gap starting with the 2024-25 budget.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) told the Capital Star on Monday, “The judiciary has spoken and we have a responsibility to address the unconstitutionality of our education system. ” he said. “For me, I don't know how I can deal with anything else without dealing with that.”
But Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, Harris' Republican counterpart on the Appropriations Committee, criticized the bill for not including revenue to pay for the plan. Grove also said he believes the solution is to reset the system through zero-based budgeting.
“There is nothing in the Commonwealth Court judgment that says we need more funding,” Grove said.
House Democrats hold a slim one-vote majority and are likely to pass a budget that reflects their legislative priorities. But Republicans who control the state Senate struck preemptively in budget negotiations last week, making clear they intend to cut Gov. Josh Shapiro's $48.8 billion spending plan.
On May 7, the Senate passed a bipartisan personal income tax cut and voted to eliminate the electricity tax, an estimated $3 billion in revenue savings.
The Senate also took action to reinstate the school voucher program, which provides up to $10,000 in tax dollars for private school tuition.Impasse over Pennsylvania Student Success Award [PASS] Last year, the program stalled budget negotiations for nearly six months.
A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Ind.) did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Sturla's fair funding proposal in his next bill is the result of more than a decade of litigation and several days of hearings by the Basic Education Funding Committee, which includes members of both parties and members of Shapiro's cabinet.
“Nothing in this bill should come as a surprise to anyone,” said House Education Committee Chairman Peter Schweyer (D-Lehi). “This is the work Congress has been doing since the Fair Funding decision was made.”
In a Feb. 7, 2023, decision, Commonwealth Court Chief Justice Lenny Cohn Jubeliller ruled that the General Assembly had failed to meet its legal obligations and that students in school districts with lower property values and incomes were being forced to move away from students in wealthy neighborhoods. He said they are being deprived of the same resources and opportunities as children. thing.
The funding committee found that 371 of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts have adequacy gaps, meaning they spend less than $13,704 per student. This is the median amount spent per student by school districts that meet state academic standards.
The decision follows a four-month hearing in a lawsuit brought by parent and school district groups in 2014 that claims the state has failed in its constitutional duty to provide a thorough and efficient public education system. chose not to appeal. .
Conservative judge Cohn Juberiller did not tell the General Assembly how to fix the system, leaving the solution to the General Assembly and the executive branch.
Last year, the Basic Education Funding Committee held dozens of public hearings across the state, where students, parents, educators, and administrators discussed the challenges they face in both the state's poorest urban and rural areas. talked about poverty.
In January, the commission voted largely along party lines to decide between the funding schools currently receive and the appropriate funding as determined by the spending of the state's most academically successful schools. The government voted to adopt a report that determined there was a difference of $5.4 billion between the two countries.
The $5.4 billion figure includes $291 million that goes to underfunded but lower-tax districts. The remaining $5.1 billion is the national responsibility.
Sturla's bill also includes $1 billion in tax breaks over the next seven years for school districts that raise taxes to generate adequate funding, money to reset the baseline funding that all school districts receive, and additional funding for cyber This will reform the way charter schools operate. Funded to provide hundreds of millions in savings to school districts.
“This is a very comprehensive bill,” Schweyer said.
Grove, the Republican budget expert, said the proposal does not include any increase in property taxes or provide funding beyond state reserves. Mr. Shapiro's office projects that the state's surplus and rainy day fund will total $14 billion at the end of this fiscal year, June 30.
“I actually want to thank them for being honest about how much money they want to spend over the next seven years,” Grove said of the Democrats' plan. “If we want to spend the money over the next seven years, it's going to have to come with a tax increase.”
Dan Jurevic-Ackersberg, a senior attorney at the Education Law Center, said Grove's assertion that the federal court's order does not require more state spending is incorrect.
“This is the line they're hanging [from the decision] “Relief doesn't have to be entirely financial,” Urevik-Ackersberg said, adding that the ruling impacts the school district's ability to provide adequate staff, learning equipment and safe, modern schools. It added that funding shortfalls had been identified.
Harris, the House Democratic chief budget negotiator, said she is open to proposals from Republicans in both chambers.
“If there is another suggestion that we have to deal with the Commonwealth Court judgment, we would be happy to consider it. We can talk about that,” he said.
But faced with obligations to Pennsylvania students and the possibility of further litigation if Congress fails to act, Harris said doing nothing is not an option.
“This is not a nice-to-have. This is a must-have,” Harris said.
This article was first published by the Pennsylvania Capital Star.Read more about their coverage here.