Title
Calling upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to end the unconstitutional race and wealth disparities in school funding and to fully, adequately, and fairly fund its schools in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth by utilizing the state's Fair Funding formula as the basis of all K-12 education funding and providing adequate recurring state funding.
Body
WHEREAS, Racial inequity and funding inadequacy define Pennsylvania's school funding system; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is home to six of America's 50 most starkly segregated school district borders, which separate wealthy, predominantly white districts from under-resourced schools that serve their mostly non-white neighbors; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania ranks 45th in the nation in terms of state-contributed funding to schools, and predominantly Black, Brown and immigrant districts suffer the most. According to POWER Interfaith, Pennsylvania schools with the fewest white students receive on average $2,000 less per pupil in state funding than their fair share, and schools in districts with the highest proportion of white students receive on average $2,000 more per pupil than their fair share; and
WHEREAS, The current level of education funding in the vast majority of school districts across Pennsylvania is inadequate to provide the education our students deserve. By Pennsylvania's own analysis, school districts across the state are approximately $4.6 billion short of adequate funding. 277 districts need $2,000 or more per student to meet young people's learning needs, including Philadelphia which needs an additional $5,500 per pupil or $1.1 billion additional recurring dollars to reach the minimum funding level identified by the state as adequate; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 11 percent of the state education budget now runs through Pennsylvania's Fair Funding formula which was enacted in 2016; however, vast disparities continue to exist by race and class. For example, the School District of Philadelp...
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