PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After a landmark court ruling and recommendations from a state panel, the issue of Pennsylvania school funding is now in the hands of the governor and legislature. Will it be politics as usual? Advocates considered that question Thursday morning.
A groundbreaking Commonwealth Court ruling last year said Pennsylvania's school funding system was unconstitutional, but left it to the governor and lawmakers to craft a remedy. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Education Fund examined the issue and what happens next.
Pennsylvania's Basic Education Funding Commission last week recommended the state spend more than $5 billion more over the next seven years to even out the burden on poor districts.
“Although the report right now is a great piece of paper, we want to implement it,” noted Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center.
But as Democratic state Rep. Jared Solomon asked, “The question is will we in the legislature actually move?”
Solomon said the reality in Harrisburg is that lawmakers don't discuss across party lines, and it's the caucus leaders who negotiate with the governor. “Republicans and Democrats go to different dinners,” he said. “They don't socialize with one another. We literally have separate printers on the House floor.”
Public Interest Law Center attorney Michael Churchill predicted a school funding deal would include the governor's voucher plan left out of last year's budget deal. “It would be very surprising if that's not part of the negotiations that's going on over the springtime.”
The Law Center opposes the voucher plan, which it believes would not address the court’s decision in the school funding case.
Gov. Josh Shapiro will deliver his budget proposal to the General Assembly on Feb. 6, one day before the first anniversary of the court ruling.