For two days, from Nov. 17 to 18, the Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Commission held hearings, listening to hours of testimony on the conditions of underfunded Philadelphia schools from School Reform Commissioners, Superintendent William Hite, Mayor Michael Nutter, Temple University President Neil Theobald and a stream of parents, education advocates and educators.

Most of the testimony called for the state to pass a fair funding formula that addressed the needs of students across the state. Philadelphia is just one of the commission’s stops, as it will listen to Pennsylvanians from all around the state. Originally, Tuesday was the only day that the commission was going to hear testimony from officials and "experts" before adding a hearing for parents to testify on Wednesday.

“Parents see first hand how unfair and inadequate funding impacts our children,” parent Julie Krug told the commission. “We need them to take the next step of creating a funding formula.”

South Philadelphia High School principal Otis Hackney, previously an administrator in Montgomery County, put it another way: “What our children experience in Philadelphia schools would never be tolerated in other districts.”

The hearings came just a week after six districts announced that they’re suing the state for failing to provide a thorough and efficient education to all students, as outlined in the Pennsylvania constitution. Philadelphia was not among those districts.