$100M for Pa.’s poorest schools redirected

Real quick: Pennsylvania’s poorest school districts — roughly half of which are in rural counties — were slated for a funding boost. But lawmakers directed state money to school construction projects instead, Spotlight PA’s Marley Parish reports.

A little more: Pennsylvania’s poorest districts won’t receive $100 million in new money to help fill vacancies and reduce funding deficits after lawmakers diverted those dollars to school construction projects.

Roughly half of the 100 “Level Up” schools serve students in rural counties where populations are shrinking, and taxpayers bear the brunt of rising costs.

After initially agreeing to send hundreds of millions in additional funding to the state’s 100 poorest school districts, state lawmakers decided to reroute that money to fund school construction projects as a compromise when Democrats and Republicans were finalizing the remaining parts of the budget in December.

The decision came after a monthslong budget impasse, partially stemming from the parties’ disagreement over private school vouchers, and about a year after a state Commonwealth Court judge declared Pennsylvania’s current public school funding system unconstitutional. Lawmakers and the governor at that time were ordered to develop a new way to pay for education across the state’s 500 public school districts.

These “Level Up” districts will still receive their share of $225 million earmarked for those in need, but education advocates and participants in a school funding lawsuit were hoping for new dollars to support poor schools.

The full story: Read more here.