July 12, 2026 – Today, Governor Shapiro signed the FY26-27 state budget into law after it passed the state Senate and House with a bipartisan vote in both chambers. The new state budget includes critical investments that will support education, lift up Pennsylvania’s economy and workforce, and address the cost-of-living crisis that residents across the Commonwealth are grappling with on a daily basis.
Part of the education funding included in the FY26-27 budget is $565M for adequacy and equity education funding. This adequacy investment is the third round of education funding the General Assembly has allocated to address the Commonwealth Court ruling that deemed Pennsylvania’s education funding system unconstitutional.
Senator Hughes shared the following statement about the third consecutive year of historic education funding for Pennsylvania students, teachers, and administrators:
“This funding was never guaranteed. From the moment Judge Jubelirer ruled Pennsylvania’s education funding system unconstitutional in February 2023, Senate and House Democrats knew we would have to fight every step of the way to deliver the funding our school communities deserve.
“Partnering with Governor Shapiro, we delivered on that commitment for the third year in a row.
“This funding continues our work to correct a broken system that has left too many students without 21st-century learning environments. This is serious money that allows our schools to make critical improvements to teacher and administrator staffing, learning opportunities, after-school programs, and support services for students.
“Securing this year’s adequacy and equity funding was a sticking point for me and both Senate and House Democrats as we negotiated the budget with our Republican colleagues. Be clear, Republicans strongly pushed back on including this adequacy funding in the budget- funding that ensures 70 percent of Pennsylvania schools are funded constitutionally- all the way until the end.
“I am proud that we got this done for schools across the Commonwealth.”
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