#1 Issue in Education - PA's Unequal Education Funding! Worst in the Nation!

All Studies Show that Class and Race Drive this Unconstitutional Reality

The fight for equal education funding in Pennsylvania has been going on for over 100 years. Generations of students in Pennsylvania have suffered because this state refuses to see all of Pennsylvania students as equal.

Despite recent efforts to address spending inequities among “rich” and “poor” school districts, two recent studies are showing that education funding is still being distributed unfairly with a distinct racial bias.

This outrageous and unconstitutional injustice, where some classrooms are spending over two to three times more money on their students as others, must end. Morally and according to the PA Constitution, every student deserves equal funding and an equal opportunity to receive the tools they need to succeed. No matter income, zip code, or race.

The fact is, basic education funding has been a target of the Right for years. We are still working to rebuild from the devastating $1 billion education cuts under the Corbett administration. We’re making progress but it’s clear that we have a long way to go.

In 2015, a bipartisan commission of lawmakers and administration officials crafted a basic education funding formula to address inequities in Pennsylvania’s education funding.

The problem is, the way the law is currently written, only “new” state funding gets funneled into this funding formula. That means only 6 percent of the state’s annual basic education subsidy (or $352 million) has gone into the basic education funding formula, while $5.9 billion was distributed under the old system.

Consequently, poorer school districts—and, specifically, school districts with a higher minority student population — still lost valuable state support that they desperately need.

That’s unacceptable.

Both the POWER and Education Law Center reports conclude that the state should distribute ALL of its basic education spending into the basic education funding formula to ensure “fair” funding.

We also need to invest more state dollars into basic education. Pennsylvania currently ranks 46th in the nation in state investments in education.

As the June 30 state budget deadline nears, I remain committed to fighting for better investments in public education and against discrimination that shortchanges our children.

One way that education inequality plays itself out is in the condition of the schools where our children are trying to learn. Some schools are 21st Century state-of-the-art learning centers, with great technology and fully equipped libraries and learning centers. At the same time, there are other underfunded schools that have no technology, no Wi-Fi, out dated text books, and crumbling class rooms that are potential environmental hazards. In fact, the Philadelphia School District recently did a study that showed that it needed $5Billion to repair and replace its school building infrastructure. If every school was funded equally, and at the appropriate level for our students to receive a 21st Century education, we would not have this vast difference in the quality of our school buildings, where children are supposed to learn and teachers are trying to teach.

Two Schools: 15 Miles and Worlds Apart

By Avi Wolfman-Arent | November 22, 2016

View Slideshow at newsworks.org

Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, and Overbrook High School in Philadelphia are a mere 15 miles from each other. But they’re worlds apart.

Take the matter of water — that most basic element of human life.

Upper Dublin's new high school, finished in 2012, features an 18-lane swimming pool with two spring-diving boards and a movable bulkhead that allows the pool to be configured for swim meets and water polo matches. The natatorium even has its own air-filtration system so the smell of chlorine doesn’t seep into the surrounding hallways or waft in the way of enjoying the tasteful mosaic that adorns the entryway to the facility.

Studies Show Racial Bias in Pennsylvania School Funding

This chart, taken from Pennsylvania Department of Education data, shows that while both Pottstown and Mahanoy City in Schuylkill County have similar levels of poverty, and would receive similar levels of basic education funding under the fair funding formula, Pottsown, which has a less-white population, receives significantly less under the current funding mechanism, while Mahanoy receives more than its fair share.
Graphic by David Mosenkis

By By Evan Brandt, The Mercury | April 30, 2017

POTTSTOWN >> People objecting to Pennsylvania’s status as the state with the widest gap between funding for rich and poor school districts have argued that a zip code all-too-often determines the quality of a student’s education.

Apparently the color of a student’s skin matters even more.

New research has found that the less white a district’s students are, the more unfair the funding gap in state basic education dollars.

Continue at The Mercury »

Editorial: The shameful inequity in Pa. school funding

May 7, 2017

This newspaper has long been at the forefront of the argument for fair schools funding in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state Constitution guarantees every child a quality education regardless of wealth or address.

Now, two recent studies show the issue is about more than just zip code; it’s also a matter of black and white.

A report last Sunday by Digital First Media reporter Evan Brandt highlighted research which shows that the less white a district’s students are, the wider the funding gap in state basic education dollars.

Continue at Delaware County Daily Times »

Pa. Schools are the Nation’s Most Inequitable. The New Governor Wants to Fix That

By Emma Brown | April 22, 2017

Fixing every Philadelphia School District building - more than 300 schools, athletic fields, offices, shops, and garages - could cost $5 billion, district officials said Thursday. But amid a perpetual budget crisis, the school system manages to allocate just $160 million yearly on maintaining its buildings, leaving thousands of work orders unfilled and putting students' health at risk daily, some suggested.

Continue at The Philadelphia Tribune »

Tab for Fixing Phila. School District Facilities: $5 billion

By Kristen A. Graham | February 12, 2016

Fixing every Philadelphia School District building - more than 300 schools, athletic fields, offices, shops, and garages - could cost $5 billion, district officials said Thursday.

But amid a perpetual budget crisis, the school system manages to allocate just $160 million yearly on maintaining its buildings, leaving thousands of work orders unfilled and putting students' health at risk daily, some suggested.

Continue at Philly.com »

Officials Told Philadelphia Schools Need $5 Billion in Repairs

By Kristen A. Graham | November 22, 2016

One by one, the dignitaries trooped into the computer lab at Overbrook High School - a room full of dusty desktops at least a decade old that await replacement.

Earlier, they had peered inside two nonfunctioning science labs, where trash sat inside lab sinks and water issues were common.

The Monday tour of Overbrook, a once-grand structure known as "the Castle on the Hill," was meant to give lawmakers who will distribute school-facilities money in Pennsylvania a grounding in just how vast the Philadelphia School District's capital needs are.

Continue at Philly.com »

Learn more about the issues and provide your feedback on my website at senatorhughes.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter (@SenatorHughes).

#1 ISSUE IN EDUCATION – PA'S UNEQUAL EDUCATION FUNDING! WORST IN THE NATION!

All Studies Show that Class and Race Drive this Unconstitutional Reality

Offices of State Senator Vincent Hughes