by Christin Brown | January 16, 2024 | BEFC, Releases
January 15, 2024 − Senators Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) and Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton), two Senate members of the Basic Education Funding Commission, issued a statement following the release and affirmative vote on the Commission’s report that...
by Christin Brown | January 12, 2024 | BEFC, Releases
January 12, 2024 − As part of the Basic Education Funding Commission, Sen. Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton) and Rep. Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh), who serves as chair of the House of Representatives Education Committee, voted yesterday in favor of a report that...
by Christin Brown | January 11, 2024 | BEFC, Video
by Christin Brown | January 4, 2024 | BEFC
Advocates who fought for and won a historic court ruling declaring Pennsylvania’s education funding system unconstitutional said Thursday that they’re ready to go back to court if state lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro fail to make a significant down payment on a...
by Christin Brown | October 11, 2023 | BEFC
Pittsburgh, Pa. − October 11, 2023 − Senator Lindsey M. Williams (D-Allegheny), Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee, hosted the Basic Education Funding Commission for their Pittsburgh hearing, the first in the series of state-wide hearings to be held in...
by Christin Brown | October 11, 2023 | BEFC
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education, or CTE program, offers kids 16 vocational programs across six of its high schools. “They are starting from so far behind and they have to overcome so much to get what their other peers already...
by Christin Brown | October 11, 2023 | BEFC
PITTSBURGH — A bipartisan commission is trying to improve the system of funding public education in Pennsylvania. The Basic Education Funding Commission held a hearing Wednesday at Westinghouse Academy in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood. State Sen. Lindsey...
by Christin Brown | October 11, 2023 | BEFC
Lawmakers with the state’s Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) heard testimony Wednesday in Pittsburgh on the needs of high school career and technical (CTE) programs. Surrounded by fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles used by Pittsburgh Public Schools’...
by Christin Brown | October 11, 2023 | BEFC
As part of a series of statewide hearings on education funding in Pennsylvania, lawmakers heard from educators in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, who told them of the needs that schools in western Pennsylvania have, including special education funding, pre-kindergarten...
by Christin Brown | October 10, 2023 | BEFC
This week, the state’s Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) will meet in Pittsburgh to gather testimony from educators and education advocates on the state of public education in Pennsylvania. Considering the Commonwealth Court’s ruling this year declaring the...
by Christin Brown | September 29, 2023 | BEFC
(The Center Square) – For more than a decade, policymakers in Harrisburg – and the circle of education influencers that they attract – have struggled to define equity for public school students. Now, with a court mandate baring down, the state must reimagine the free...
by Christin Brown | September 25, 2023 | BEFC
Pennsylvania is at a public education crossroads. Following the ruling of the Commonwealth Court earlier this year that labeled the state’s system of funding public education unconstitutional, the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) is holding several hearings...
by Christin Brown | September 16, 2023 | BEFC
Months after a landmark court decision found Pennsylvania’s public school funding system unconstitutional, a commission tasked with resolving statewide disparities held its first series of hearings this week. The hearings kick off a process that could affect...
by Christin Brown | September 15, 2023 | BEFC
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Fixing Pennsylvania’s school funding system is the mission of a panel that has begun a series of 10 hearings across the state. The 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission is gathering input on making K-12 school funding more...
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 | 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...
