Why we are suing Pennsylvania over school funding
For too long, Pennsylvania families have been subjected to a school funding system where the students who need the most get the least.
This is not just a few schools falling through the cracks: 86% of commonwealth students attend schools that are ill-equipped to offer them a 21st century education, according to a benchmark that is written into state law.
Trial will begin in November in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg to determine whether Pennsylvania’s funding system meets state constitutional standards. The petitioners include six school districts (including Shenandoah Valley and Panther Valley), two statewide organizations, and several parents.
The extent of the state’s underfunding was revealed in a study by Penn State professor Matthew Kelly, prepared as an expert report for the forthcoming case in Commonwealth Court.
Why is a lawsuit necessary to fix the funding system?
Clearly, the state legislature has failed to fulfill its duties under the education and equal protection provisions of Pennsylvania’s constitution. The current system is not “thorough” or “efficient” and does not provide a quality education for children in low-wealth districts.
The gross disparities between districts are irrational and unjustifiable.
The General Assembly has at times acknowledged that Pennsylvania has a school funding problem.
In 2016, legislators adopted a funding formula that distributes “new” funding to school districts based on objective factors, such as student enrollment, poverty levels, school district wealth, and capacity to raise local revenues. This year they funded a modest “Level Up” supplement for the state’s 100 most under-resourced districts.
But total state aid is still woefully insufficient. And because of a “hold harmless” provision in the state’s funding system, ensuring that no district can get less state aid than in 2014-15, 86% of total funding is distributed without regard to current enrollment or need.
The profoundly inadequate level of state funding and the flaws in the system for distributing it have created inequities between school districts that are too extreme to ignore.
According to the analysis by Kelly, 428 of the 500 school districts have an “adequacy gap” — the yawning gulf between the funds they can raise and the state’s own benchmark for what they need to educate students to state standards.
The total funding shortfall is at least $4.6 billion statewide. Two dozen districts, including Allentown, have shortfalls exceeding $5,000 per student. In Reading, the gap is $8,592 per student.
Pennsylvania contributes just 38% of the costs of K-12 education. Only five states cover a smaller share. The national average is 47%.
This means local wealth determines essential services — from the quality, training and experience level of teachers; to the number of counselors, nurses, librarians and reading specialists; to computers and STEM labs, art and music, smaller class sizes and extra help for students who need it.
These blatant disparities compound the effects of systemic racism: Half the state’s Black students and 40% of Latinx students attend school in districts that are in the bottom quintile for local wealth.
Without adequate state funding, these districts lack basic resources to meet student needs.
This reality is a far cry from a system where all children have access to a quality education regardless of their race, ZIP code or the wealth of their community.
Successful school funding lawsuits in other states have moved the needle toward fairness, spurring more state revenue for schools and resulting in better academic and life outcomes for children.
A 2015 megastudy of 28 states that implemented court-mandated school funding reforms confirms this view.
Researchers found that for children from low-income families, increasing per-pupil spending yields large improvements in educational attainment, wages and family income. They saw reductions in the annual incidence of poverty when those students reached adulthood.
Courts elsewhere have fleshed out the meaning of states’ constitutional obligations. In New Mexico, the court in 2018 ordered state legislators to take “immediate steps to ensure that New Mexico schools have the resources necessary to give at-risk students the opportunity to obtain a uniform and sufficient education that prepares them for college and career.”
Our neighbor New Jersey — now with a majority of students of color — ranks No. 2 in the nation in achievement and graduation rates after court orders triggered school finance reform. Districts in which at least 30% of students live in poverty are allocated about 20% more per pupil.
Among other reforms is funding of high-quality preschool in low-wealth districts.
When students receive the kinds of supports that strong, consistent funding can buy, society reaps the rewards.
More investment in schools spurs student achievement, which spurs state economic growth.
Simply put, money matters in education. With this lawsuit, we now have an opportunity to positively impact generations of students in Pennsylvania.