Education Advocates Celebrate Victory For Students & Schools In PA Budget
HARRISBURG, PA (July 14th) – Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf solidified the $45.2 billion state budget with a historic increase in education funding. The Budget includes a basic education funding increase of almost $750 million ($525 million through the Fair Funding Formula and $225 million for Level Up funding to the state’s poorest school districts). This is the largest single-year increase in this decade, with all new money to be distributed according to PA’s Fair Funding Formula. Ushering in a new opportunity for comprehensive and fairly distributed public school funds.
Tireless advocacy resulted in the passage of Level Up, a new budget of $225,000,000. This money goes to the 100 most shortchanged School Districts. The standard used to choose those 100 Districts roughly followed the requirements of PA’s Fair Funding Formula. The Level Up money for each of the 100 Districts is in addition to allocated funds within the Basic Education Budget to these districts. The Level Up plan last year provided $100,000,000 in extra money to 100 School Districts. This year’s Level Up program increases that figure to $225,000,000.
POWER Interfaith has organized to repair the inequitable distribution of school funding since 2011. POWER Interfaith applauds Governor Wolf in this move to fill the gap in resources for Pennsylvania students and celebrates this victory.
“One of the big problems is that for years there has been a racial bias to how the state of Pennsylvania allocates education funding,” said Rev. Gregory Edwards, Chief of Staff. “This monumental increase through the Fair Funding Formula sets us on a path where all our students can come closer to the support they need to thrive.”
Counties, where POWER Interfaith organizes, will get 61% of that money equaling $137,199,903.
POWER Philadelphia:
Philadelphia City SD – $83,910,648
POWER Lehigh Valley:
Allentown SD – $15,173,151
Bethlehem Area SD: $3,807,665
POWER Central Pennsylvania:
Lancaster SD – $3,793,079
Ephrata-Akron SD: $858,865
Columbia SD: $756,783
York City SD: $6,906,831
Harrisburg SD: $5,452,924
Steelton-Highspire SD: $708,852
POWER Metro:
Norristown Area SD: $2,128,836
Pottstown SD: $1,593,427
Chester-Upland SD: $4,864,688
Southeast DELCO SD: $2,111,919
Upper Darby SD: $4,311,242
William Penn SD: $1,986,463
Coatsville Area SD: $1,568,103
Oxford Area SD: $733,681
Bristol Borough SD: $340,411
