Coronavirus reveals school funding gap in Pennsylvania

A recent Pottstown Mercury story (“As schools pivot to online, Pottstown is left behind”), made clear the challenges that many school districts across the state are wrestling with as they adapt to distance learning and the new realities of a world battling COVID-19.

A disaster like this reveals the fault lines in society — in

Pennsylvania, one of those major fault lines is the gap between school districts that are the “haves” and school districts that are the “have-nots.”

It’s happening right here. More affluent school districts in Montgomery County are seamlessly switching to virtual instruction, while others are struggling because the schools lack resources and access to technology.

This disparity — that goes far beyond technology to class sizes, course options, and so many other aspects of our schools — is a symptom of Pennsylvania’s inadequate and uneven school funding system. This is exactly what Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), and our partners in the PA Schools Work coalition, have been working to rectify for years.

The zip code in which a child lives has entirely too much bearing on what kind of public education they’re able to get — and that is staring us in the face as districts adapt to teaching students in a COVID-19 world.

Once Pennsylvania and the

U.S. emerge from the current crisis — and before we are faced with another — we must set our sights on making sure that all students have the resources they need to achieve, no matter where they live.

—Tomea Sippio, Huntingdon Valley