HARRISBURG — Last summer, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed a budget that acknowledged a roughly $4.5 billion “adequacy gap” to properly fund the commonwealth’s poorest schools, and pledged to fill it using state dollars.
They put about $500 million toward the goal in that budget. Now, as a new legislative session begins, funding advocates want to make sure officials don’t drag their feet to cover the rest.
Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director at the Education Law Center, said a delay could have real consequences.
“That's another cohort of children missing out on access to the education they deserve,” she said.
Democrats, who control the state House and governorship, support continuing to boost funding for the commonwealth’s poorest schools, though haven’t made any specific commitments yet.
Republicans, who control the state Senate, signed off on the acknowledgment of the funding gap in the most recent budget. Still, they’ve been more circumspect about additional large investments, with leaders emphasizing that they need to make sure what’s already been spent is helping.
Intense conversations over school funding began in 2023, when a state court ruled that Pennsylvania’s spending on public education was inequitable — so much so that it violated the state constitution. Specifically, the judge found that students in poorer districts, which don’t have the resources to raise as much money through property taxes, weren’t serving students well enough.
That suit was brought against the state by a group of parents, administrators, and advocacy groups, including the Education Law Center.
For much of 2023 and 2024, lawmakers held hearings and negotiated on how exactly to quantify the funding shortfall.
A commission convened to study the issue eventually came up with the concept of an “adequacy target” — the bar at which a district can serve students at an acceptable level.
This measure sets a baseline amount of per-student spending, then adds in additional spending based on a district’s student body and factors like poverty and level of English proficiency. If a district spends less than the resulting number, it is missing its adequacy target and has an “adequacy gap,” the report said.
The budget lawmakers passed for the 2024-25 fiscal year acknowledged an adequacy gap that was a bit smaller than the one the commission identified, but advocates still saw it as a victory.
However, the budget didn’t make concrete commitments for future funding. That makes people like Klehr nervous.
“Schools need to make these long-delayed improvements to student instruction and essential services soon, and not wait 10 more years,” she said. A concrete schedule for additional money would allow schools “to plan, and hire the teachers they need to hire, and create the programs they need to create.”
The roughly $500 million that went toward the adequacy gap wasn’t the only education spending included in last year’s budget. Other line items included money for special education, mental health, and physical safety in schools. All told, education-related spending went up by about $1 billion.
State Rep. Pete Schweyer (D., Lehigh), who chairs the House Education Committee, said as far as he’s concerned, the process should be repeated this year.
“Last year’s budget was, as I interpret it, year one of a multiyear increase in funding for the most at-risk school districts,” he said.
If there hadn’t been a broad acknowledgment that more funding would follow, Schweyer added, he would have expected school funding advocates to “head right back into court.”
State Senate leaders, however, indicated they’ll have some questions before signing off on more public education funding.
In a statement, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said, “The adequacy dollars invested last year must be reviewed, to understand how schools utilized those investments and determine how we can best provide future support.”
The upper chamber also intends to focus on “truancy prevention measures, to make sure children are attending school and embracing the offerings of their learning environments,” he added.
Pittman also noted the upper chamber’s commitment to “empowering parents when it comes to the education and well-being of their children,” a likely reference to programs like the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, which provides state money to businesses that fund scholarships to private schools. The program is a GOP priority — and is also supported by a number of Democrats — and grows annually.
Elizabeth Rementer, a spokesperson for House Democratic leaders, echoed Schweyer and indicated that her caucus plans to stay the course.
“Last year’s budget clearly laid out the adequacy shortfall and our multiyear plan to finally fulfill our constitutional obligation to fund our schools,” she wrote in an email. “We look forward to the governor’s budget address.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, will lay out his vision for next year’s budget in early February.
