On Wednesday, March 16th, Law Center attorney Michael Churchill testified in front the Public Education Subcommittee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Constitutional Review Commission at Widener Law School.
Invited to discuss shortcomings in the current state constitution as it pertains to public education and to recommend revisions, Churchill focused on the state court system’s current inability to enforce the Constitution’s mandate for a “thorough and efficient” public school system and on the inequality ingrained in the school system by the low proportion of school funding provided by the state.
To fix these problems, Churchill first recommended that the Constitution explicitly grant the Courts the ability to enforce the mandate to create an effective school system. Next, he recommended an amendment that would make school funding more equitable. Churchill also recommended amendments mandating early childhood education and providing for a study every 5 years to determine the funding needed for students to meet the State’s educational standards.
