by Christin Brown | September 14, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania lawmakers kicked off their hearings this week on how to change the state’s unconstitutional school funding system, and the scope of the challenge was on display: both in terms of dollars and how to distribute them, and the urgency of the needs facing...
by Christin Brown | September 14, 2023 | BEFC
On the heat-soaked steps of the Philadelphia School District building Thursday, education advocates, teachers, and elected officials sought help for city students forced to learn in underfunded schools. “Children are in crisis,” said Maritza Guridy, deputy director of...
by Christin Brown | September 13, 2023 | BEFC
Education advocates behind the lawsuit that declared Pennsylvania’s school funding system unconstitutional put lawmakers on notice on Wednesday that they expect a “reasonable timeline” for the full implementation of a formula that is fair and equitable. “If it’s not a...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania school districts need an additional $6.2 billion to adequately educate students, according to a new analysis presented to lawmakers Tuesday. The analysis by Matthew Kelly, the Penn State professor who served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in the...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) — State courts have ruled that Pennsylvania unfairly and unconstitutionally funds its public schools. Lawmakers formed the Fair Funding Commission to come up with a fix, starting with testimony on Tuesday in Allentown. Poorer districts like...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
After a landmark trial led a Commonwealth Court judge in February to declare Pennsylvania’s school funding unconstitutional, lawmakers are confronting the next big question: how to fix it. Starting Tuesday, a series of hearings will be held across the state, with...
by Christin Brown | September 12, 2023 | BEFC
A commission looking for solutions to make state funding of public education more equitable met for the first time Tuesday in Allentown, where experts and Lehigh Valley superintendents testified about the dire financial straits local school districts find themselves...
by Christin Brown | September 11, 2023 | Video
by Christin Brown | September 11, 2023 | BEFC
State lawmakers heard from Philadelphia parents and school leaders during a Senate Education Committee hearing on Monday, and while the hearing largely centered around school choice programs, it also foreshadowed broader conversations around school funding that will...
by Christin Brown | September 11, 2023 | BEFC
Work gets underway this week on crafting a funding formula for Pennsylvania’s public schools that addresses shortcomings in the current funding system that the courts found to be unconstitutional. The 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission will begin a...
by Christin Brown | September 11, 2023 | BEFC
As Pennsylvania students return to school this fall, they’ll be greeted by teachers trying their best to provide excellent learning opportunities in a state public education system that has been ruled unconstitutional. What many parents, citizens, and advocates don’t...
by Christin Brown | September 8, 2023 | BEFC
Alan Foo gulped Gatorade for breakfast on Thursday in preparation for his sweltering job: teaching fifth graders at Bayard Taylor Elementary School, where he grew so dehydrated and groggy this week he had to seek medical attention. Taylor, built in 1907, has...
by Christin Brown | September 8, 2023 | BEFC
The LNP | LancasterOnline Editorial Board has published numerous editorials focused on basic education funding in Pennsylvania. I hope this trend continues, at least until the state Legislature adopts a system of funding basic education that meets muster under the...
by Christin Brown | September 7, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania lawmakers will embark on a historic effort this fall to reform the commonwealth’s education funding system that a state court earlier this year declared unconstitutional. Public education advocates said Thursday that to succeed in drafting a blueprint for...
by Christin Brown | September 6, 2023 | BEFC
This year’s landmark school funding decision was clear: Pennsylvania’s way of paying for public education isn’t working. Less evident is how Pennsylvania’s school funding actually works — and why so many schools are underfunded. Despite a 2016...
by Christin Brown | August 28, 2023 | Releases
August 28, 2023 − This Life Forever Inc., located in Allentown, will receive $175,000 from the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority to aid in the distillery’s expansion plan. “Investing in small businesses is pivotal to the Lehigh Valley’s success,”...
by Christin Brown | August 28, 2023 | BEFC
William Sax didn’t mince words as he led a group of lawmakers through the sweltering halls of his workplace in July. “You thought it was bad for a couple of minutes here … we come here every day,” Sax, a social studies teacher and building representative at South...
by Christin Brown | August 27, 2023 | BEFC
As residents of Hempfield recently learned, the cost associated with school building projects can easily climb above $100 million. For decades, school administrators could turn to what was known as PlanCon to pursue state funding to help ease the local...
by Christin Brown | August 25, 2023 | Releases
August 25, 2023 – Nearly $1 million in state funding will be invested in the Lehigh Valley Airport, Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton) announced today. The airport will receive $940,000 to update safety and accessibility by adapting the current...
by Christin Brown | August 24, 2023 | Releases
August 24, 2023 – A 22-acre crop farm in Lehigh Township will be preserved, Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton) announced today. By preserving the farm via the State Agriculture Land Preservation Board, the land is prevented from future development. Farmers sell...
by Christin Brown | August 17, 2023 | Releases
August 17, 2023 – Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton) today announced $45,000 in grant funding was awarded to the Literacy Center in Lehigh and Northampton counties. The center will provide 300 adults with guides on digital literacy. The program targets residents...
by Christin Brown | August 17, 2023 | BEFC
A judge ruled earlier this year that the funding system for K-12 schools in the nation’s fifth most populous state is unconstitutional—but educators are still eagerly awaiting solutions to the funding-related problems they encounter every day at work. In February, a...
by Christin Brown | August 10, 2023 | BEFC
Lawmakers have plenty of work to do when it comes to figuring out just how to fix the state’s now-unconstitutional public school funding system – and that work is set to begin this fall. The state’s Basic Education Funding Commission – a legislative body tasked with...
