Yesterday Governor Wolf unveiled his 2015-2016 budget proposal. In case you missed it, he proposed historic state education funding including…
- investing a total of $2 billion in new dollars over the next four years, with $400 million in basic education funding and $100 million in special education funding earmarked for this year, thereby restoring the remaining cuts made under the previous administration;
- investing $120 million this year to significantly increase Pre-K enrollment; and,
- cutting property taxes by $3.8 billion to bring relief to high-poverty, high-tax school districts.
If adopted and distributed fairly, these strong investments would significantly shift Pennsylvania toward the thorough and efficient system of public education mandated by our state’s constitution and needed by our children.
But one governor’s budget address is not the guarantee our kids need. We do not yet know how the legislative process will shape or change these proposals. And this is just one year’s budget. We need a long-term solution.
That is why we will continue to move forward with our school funding lawsuit. Together with the Education Law Center and O’Melveny & Myers LLP, we are heading to court next Wednesday, March 11th, for oral argument in this case.
Stay tuned as we continue to move our mission to secure a high-quality public education for each and every student in Pennsylvania.
Click here to learn more about our school funding lawsuit.
Click here to read more about our call for a fair funding formula for public education in Pennsylvania.