PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia parent who was a plaintiff in Pennsylvania's groundbreaking school funding lawsuit is hopeful that Republicans and Democrats will come together on a funding plan that's fair to all school districts, rich and poor.
Sheila Armstrong admits she didn't join the landmark suit nine years ago to make Pennsylvania school funding more equitable. She just thought it was a way to keep the School District of Philadelphia from closing her son's school, Harrison Elementary.
"I was angry. I was upset. I wanted some recourse," Armstrong said. "I thought this lawsuit was going to help us get the school back open."
It didn't. But it ultimately led Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelier last week to rule the state's school funding system unconstitutional.
In 2014, when Armstrong joined other parents and six school districts as petitioners in the case, her son Skylar was 12 years old. The court's ruling came too late for Skylar, who graduated from Mastbaum High in 2019. His mom says he was unprepared for Walnut Hill College because of what she called an "inadequate" education in Philadelphia. He's 21 now, and he has his own catering company, called Cooking 4 Autism.
The judge didn't say how much more state funding should be provided. And she left it to the governor and General Assembly to craft a way to fund rich and poor districts equitably.
"What I'm seeing a lot now in government is a lot of partisan stuff," Armstrong said. "My prayer is honestly that our leaders put all the political stuff aside and just focus on the needs of our children."
GOP legislative leaders have not said whether they'll appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Armstrong said she's hopeful Republican red and Democrat blue will come together. "I'm believing that great things are going to happen in our education system, and our Pennsylvania Legislature and our governor is going to come to what I like to call 'a purple solution.'"
