Latest Press Coverage
School officials view state funding plan as ‘game changer’ and ‘transformative’
Republican herald
2/25/2024
With the release of his budget for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Josh Shapiro has won praise from those who have been fighting for fair funding for decades. But veterans in that fight know that it is still but a first step.
Pottstown School Board working to get fair funding over the finish line
The Mercury
2/17/2024
With the release of his budget for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Josh Shapiro has won praise from those who have been fighting for fair funding for decades. But veterans in that fight know that it is still but a first step.
Gov. Shapiro seeks school-funding boost to help poorer districts, but Republicans remain wary
AP
2/8/2024
Gov. Josh Shapiro is taking the first step in what is shaping up to be a complicated, yearslong process to respond to a court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s system of public school funding violates the constitutional rights of students in the poorest districts.
Poor schools are prepared to return to court if Pennsylvania budget falls short on funding plan
AP
1/4/2024
The poor schools that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania last year are prepared to go back to court if the Legislature and governor don’t adequately address shortfalls as key junctures approach, the schools’ lawyers said Thursday.
Lawmakers grapple with fixing Pa.’s unconstitutional school funding system
SPOTLIGHT PA
9/14/2023
Months after a landmark court decision found Pennsylvania's public school funding system unconstitutional, a commission tasked with resolving statewide disparities held its first series of hearings this week.
Pa. lawmakers on the clock to get new school funding system in place
PENNLIVE
9/13/2023
Education advocates behind the lawsuit that declared Pennsylvania’s school funding system unconstitutional put lawmakers on notice on Wednesday that they expect a “reasonable timeline” for the full implementation of a formula that is fair and equitable.
Pennsylvania’s schools say victory in court is final and Legislature needs to increase funding
AP
7/24/2023
Lawmakers should take action to address a now-final court ruling that Pennsylvania’s system of funding public schools violates the constitutional rights of students in poorer school districts, lawyers for the districts and groups that sued said Monday.
Efforts to overturn Pa.’s landmark education funding lawsuit thwarted
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
6/21/2023
The new decision means it’s up to lawmakers to fix the state’s broken school funding system — unless they decide to appeal. Republicans now have 30 days to do so.
Pennsylvania school allies criticize Shapiro’s budget plan
AP
3/8/2023
Lawyers for the districts that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania say that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal falls short of the financial commitments that are needed to help the state’s poorest school districts.
With court win, Pennsylvania schools want plan, down payment
AP
3/1/2023
When Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveils his first budget next week, the poor districts that won a landmark school-funding lawsuit will want to see him propose a significant down payment and a plan to overhaul how the state pays for K-12 education in what could be a term-defining moment for the Democrat.
Underfunded schools are unconstitutional, Pa. court rules
THE WASHINGTON POST
2/8/2023
A state court judge ruled Tuesday that some of Pennsylvania’s schools are so underfunded that they violate students’ constitutional right to an education, a ruling that could force the state to change how it allocates money to schools.
Landmark Pa. school funding case decided: The state’s system is unconstitutional
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
2/7/2023
In a 786-page decision, Judge Renee Cohn Jubilerer said that over the course of the more than three-month trial that ended a year ago, the petitioners had demonstrated “manifest deficiencies.”
Poorer districts win challenge to Pa. public school funding
AP
2/7/2023
A Pennsylvania judge ruled Tuesday that the state’s system of funding public schools falls woefully short and violates students’ constitutional rights, siding with poorer districts in a lawsuit launched nearly a decade ago in pursuit of billions of dollars in additional annual aid.
Still awaiting ruling, Pennsylvania’s school funding lawsuit stretches into 2023
WHYY
1/3/2023
The task is twofold: First, based on the state’s constitution, determine what standard of education Pennsylvania owes its public school students. And second, decide whether the current system violates that standard.
Pa. students have more educational opportunities than the national average, but racial disparities are among the worst, study says
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
10/13/2022
Pennsylvania students overall receive more access to educational opportunities than the national average, but disparities by race and income are some of the largest in the country, an analysis has found.
New PA school year: Underfunded districts, unresolved lawsuit
KEYSTONE STATE NEWS
8/10/2022
After eight years, the Pennsylvania school-funding lawsuit is in the hands of the judge, creating a waiting game heading into the new school year.
School funding lawsuits are long, frustrating, and crucial for fighting inequality
VOX
7/11/2022
A new school funding lawsuit, first filed in 2014, will soon be decided in Pennsylvania. The outcome matters not only for families in Pennsylvania but for school advocates nationwide who are trying to decide if these cases still make sense for them to pursue.
Pa. failing to provide ‘a high-quality education,’ litigants say in latest case
WILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE
6/16/2022
The state Legislature is violating the state Constitution by failing to provide “a high-quality education” to every child
Your View by Rev. Gregory Edwards: Racial injustice is on trial in Pennsylvania school funding case
THE MORNING CALL
5/26/2022
The trial provided ample evidence that Pennsylvania shortchanges most of its students by not ensuring adequate state funding — especially black and brown students and students in low-wealth communities.
Jerry Zahorchak: Pennsylvania must fund local education, for the students’ good — and the state’s
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
5/25/2022
Fewer than half of Pennsylvania students are able to demonstrate proficiency in reading and math. Thousands graduate unprepared to succeed in a world demanding far more than basic literacy.
AG Josh Shapiro sides with plaintiffs in school funding lawsuit, saying Pa. is violating its constitution
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
5/17/2022
A Democrat running for governor, Shapiro submitted the filing at the deadline for amicus briefs in the ongoing school funding case, which centers on claims that Pennsylvania funding is inadequate.
Study at issue in PA school funding case revised to show poor kids get less
CHALKBEAT
4/25/2022
Researchers acknowledged that an analysis used by Pennsylvania officials to argue that the state’s funding system doesn’t shortchange poor students was flawed.
Attorneys in fair funding trial to make oral arguments July 26
LANCASTER ONLINE
4/23/2022
Attorneys for the six public school districts and legislative leaders will make oral arguments on legal issues in the case before Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer on July 26 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 3001 of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg.
Want to fix Pennsylvania's education system? Fund our preschools
THE INTELLIGENCER
4/1/2022
The gains that students make in pre-K can only be sustained if there is thorough support for students in elementary and high schools, which of course also requires adequate funding.
Editorial: Fair funding push moves from courtroom to streets
THE REPORTER
3/21/2022
In Pottstown, they declare it a fight for justice; in Reading, a rally for fairness; Lansdowne, a movement to right a wrong, and in Norristown, a call for the children in poor schools to get their due.
For media inquiries, contact Jonathan McJunkin at Public Interest Law Center,
or Paul Socolar at Education Law Center.