Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on November 8, 2023. VIEW IN A PDF READER, PRINT, OR DOWNLOAD. November 8, 2023 The-Contribution-of-Education-to-Economic-Growth-and-DemocracyDownload Continue reading
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on November 8, 2023. In February 2023, Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer called for a new funding system in Pennsylvania to fulfill the state’s obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education for its children. But, opponents of increased education funding cite the state’s high per-student spending, compared to other states, as a reason not to increase our total spending on K-12 schools. The comparison to other states’ spending per student is misleading in multiple ways. VIEW IN A PDF READER, PRINT, OR DOWNLOAD. Click to access Minimum-Wage-and-Economic-Justice.pdf Continue reading
Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on November 8, 2023. November 8, 2023 Context A year ago, Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer ruled that Pennsylvania violates its constitutional obligation to create a “thorough and efficient” system of school funding. In response, legislative leaders and Governor Shapiro have charged the Basic Education Funding Commission with providing a blueprint for General Assembly action that would meet our constitutional obligation. In in developing that blueprint, the General Assembly can learn from what other states have done. Seen from a national perspective, Judge Jubelirer’s decision is not an outlier. In response to similar court decisions, about half the states have added substantial state funding of K–12 education in the last thirty years. In almost every case, the judicial decisions, like that of Judge Jubelirer, focused on the inequity in school funding created by over-reliance on locally raised revenues to pay for schools. Because Pennsylvania is… Continue reading