Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the state budget on Wednesday and it includes the largest funding increase for education in state history.
The budget provides for a $416 million increase in spending on public education.
“This is a budget that invests in Pennsylvanians,” said Governor Tom Wolf in a release. “It is a budget that will help those hit hardest by the pandemic get the support they need, while at the same time making crucial investments in our future by supporting the students and workers who will drive our economy forward in the years to come.”
The increase in education funding comes in the following ways:
$200 million increase in the Fair Funding Formula
$100 million for underfunded school districts through the Level Up initiative
$50 million for special education funding
$30 million for early education
$20 million for Ready to Learn
$11 million for preschool Early Intervention
$5 million for community colleges
“While there is much to celebrate in this bill, it is disappointing that we could not come together to fully provide for the needs of schools across the commonwealth,” said Wolf. “We need all public education funding to go through the fair funding formula to ensure each school district and each student in our commonwealth are getting the support they need. There is more – much more – that needs to be done to fully provide for the needs of our commonwealth’s students and the future of our workforce.”