PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After hearing seven months of testimony, a divided state panel on Thursday voted to recommend that Pennsylvania spend billions of dollars more on K-12 education to close the equity gap highlighted in a court ruling last year.
The bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission adopted a Democratic-led report that recommended the state boost school funding by $5.4 billion over seven years. The increase is intended to address last year's Commonwealth Court ruling that state funding was unconstitutionally shortchanging students in poorer school districts.
The 15-member panel voted 8-7, mostly along party lines.
Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Pittsburgh) voted against her party’s plan, saying it didn't go far enough.
"This is our opportunity to get this right. If we're not voting on a bipartisan report today, I see little reason to compromise at this point," Williams said.
Feb. 7, 2023
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan called the plan a "critical step in the right direction."
Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, a senior attorney with the Public Interest Law Center, who represented the petitioners in the Commonwealth Court case, hailed the panel's action.
"They didn't set an adequacy target and then recommend it's everyone for themselves. They set an adequacy target and said the state needs to contribute 95% of the funding to get there."
Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler said the report approved by the Commission continued what he called "the false choice" that providing only more state funding would improve Pennsylvania’s public schools.
The conservative Commonwealth Foundation called the report a "partisan misfire," saying more spending will result not in better educational outcomes but in higher taxes.
Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster), co-chair of the Commission, said school funding is now in the hands of the governor and the full Legislature.
"Really, this is the end of the beginning," he said.