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Districts sue state for underfunding schools

School districts, families and education advocacy organizations across Pennsylvania came together to sue the state for inequitable school funding and failing…

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School districts, families and education advocacy organizations across Pennsylvania have sued the state for what they call an “inequitable school financing arrangement” that discriminates against children by shifting the burden of funding off the state and onto localities so that property taxes and income-levels determine quality of education.

Delaware County district William Penn, Carbon County district Panther Valley, Greater Johnstown, Shenandoah Valley, Wilkes Barre and Lancaster school districts in partnership with advocacy organizations like the NAACP, the Education Law Center and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia filed suit in Commonwealth Court on Nov. 10.

The action came at the heels of a school funding analysis by a Philadelphia-based data analyst, David Mosenkis. Mosenkis discovered that funding in Pennsylvania is discriminatory based on race and income by plotting the per-pupil funding for the state’s 500 districts and the percent of students in the district who received free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator a district’s income level. For example, both Montgomery Area School District in Lycoming and Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester have around 40 percent of their students receiving free or reduced-price lunches. However, Montgomery receives $5,475 basic funding per student and Kennett $1,153 basic funding per student. Montgomery is 93 percent white while Kennett is 52 percent white.

The lawsuit isn’t the first of its kind in the state. Nearly two decades ago, Philadelphia and its school district brought a similar argument to the Commonwealth Court which ruled against it, reasoning that there was no measurable way to determine whether the state is providing a “thorough and efficient” system of education as required in Pennsylvania's constitution. School funding advocates hope that this time around, state-measured school performance through assessments and testing will aid their argument that students are not receiving a “thorough and efficient” education as determined by the state.

"Over the past several years of budget cuts, standardized test results chart an unprecedented scope of decline in every tested area and for every grade," Philadelphia-based advocacy group Parents United for Public Education wrote in a statement of support for the suit. “Students across the state are not meeting these new standards because the state has not adequately supported them.” 

Other states, like New Jersey, have won suits that forced the state to fund districts more equitably. The Pennsylvania suit was filed just a week after self-professed public education supporter Tom Wolf won the gubernatorial election. However, despite the support the suit may receive from the soon-to-be governor, the Pennsylvania court could ultimately leave the issue of school funding to legislatures to decide.

 
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