Two important public interest law firms issued a press release congratulating Governor Josh Shapiro for a major proposal to fund public schools. But at the same time, they chastised the Governor for his inexplicable support for vouchers, which will fund schools that discriminate and produce no academic improvement.
MEDIA ADVISORY* * *
Law Centers Issue Joint Statement on Gov. Shapiro’s Historic Budget Proposal
In-Person and Zoom Media Availabilities Scheduled for Anniversary of Commonwealth Court Decision on Wednesday, Feb. 7
See below for the law centers’ statement and quotes from lawsuit petitioner superintendents. Attorneys are available today for further comment on the governor’s budget proposal upon request.
Tomorrow, Feb. 7, attorneys from the Public Interest Law Center and Education Law Center, who represented the petitioners in Pennsylvania’s school funding lawsuit, will be speaking at a noon event in the Capitol Rotunda commemorating the one-year anniversary of the court’s decision and available to answer questions from the media on Feb. 7 both in person in the Rotunda and later on Zoom.
Who: Attorneys from Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center
When: Wednesday, Feb. 7, Noon, with in-person media availability for Harrisburg media immediately following the event
2 pm, Zoom media availability
Where: In person in Capitol Rotunda at noon
Register for the Zoom media availability at 2 pm
What: Attorneys from the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center will speak as part of the PA Schools Work coalition event in the Rotunda and then answer questions from the media.
Joint Statement from Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center on Gov. Shapiro’s Historic Budget Proposal
We commend Gov. Shapiro for today’s historic commitment to address the needs of all Pennsylvania’s school children. Last year Gov. Shapiro promised to develop a plan to bring Pennsylvania’s school funding system into constitutional compliance. Building on the work of the Basic Education Funding Commission, he has kept that promise, and we applaud him for it. Today’s proposal includes every first-year recommendation proposed by the commission.
If fully implemented over the next seven years, the commission’s plan will mean thousands more teachers, counselors, librarians, and school nurses delivering what every child deserves: the opportunity to thrive. We look forward to legislation backing up that long-term plan, with annual targets so that school districts can plan, our leaders can be held accountable, and students can see the benefits.
There remains work ahead. The seven-year timeline proposed by the commission to implement the plan is too long, and it does not yet include funding for critical strategies like high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. But we recognize his proposal for what it is: a bold, historic first step towards a system that honors the limitless potential of our students and delivers the future our communities and our children deserve. We are ready to stand with the governor in advocating for its passage.
On the governor’s stated support for a school voucher program: Pennsylvania’s first obligation is to bring its public education system into constitutional compliance. Commonwealth Court’s decision is entirely focused on ensuring that our Commonwealth provides a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary public education to all Pennsylvania students. Funds spent on vouchers for private schools sanction discrimination against students, lead to worse outcomes by any measure, and don’t bring us a dollar closer to compliance with the court’s ruling.
One year after the governor and General Assembly were ordered to enact a plan to remedy the unconstitutional funding system, we have before us one—and only one—plan that answers the court’s command: the plan adopted by the Basic Education Funding Commission and affirmed today by the governor.
Statements from superintendents of school district petitioners in the Pennsylvania school funding lawsuit
“Today Governor Shapiro demonstrated his belief in the children of the William Penn School District, and in the entire Commonwealth,” said Dr. Eric Becoats, superintendent of William Penn School District. “By including in his budget the full year-one recommendation from the Basic Education Funding Commission, we are on the path to provide resources for our children that have long been deferred. If carried out over seven years, this plan would be the end of our students living by the unacceptable slogan ‘do more with less.’ These funds will allow us to provide additional teachers and support services (counselors, social workers and health therapists) to the schools and students that most deserve them.”
“I applaud Governor Shapiro for taking real action for public schools in communities like mine by putting forward the first year of a transformative plan,” said Dr. Brian Waite, superintendent of Shenandoah Valley School District. “Facing enormous funding gaps, educators in Shenandoah Valley make impossible choices for our students every day, shifting insufficient resources to some students who need them at the expense of others. Now we have a real plan in Harrisburg to bridge those gaps, and to give us the chance to make choices based on maximizing our students’ amazing potential, not minimizing collateral damage.”
“Today’s budget proposal could be the start of transformational change for my students,” said Dr. David McAndrew, superintendent of Panther Valley School District. “It means more reading specialists, counselors, teachers and social workers, support that has been denied because of a lack of local wealth in our community. I hope that our leaders in Harrisburg can make this multi-year proposal a reality faster than seven years—our kids have unmet needs right now—but the Governor’s plan provides the meaningful opportunity that children in Panther Valley and across Pennsylvania deserve.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is great that Shapiro is willing to spend more money on public education as Pennsylvania funds a relatively low amount of the school district operating budgets, and the public schools depend heavily on local tax dollars. Poorer districts in Pennsylvania have struggled to stay open as a result.
Shapiro has a record of supporting school choice. Fortunately, he is stalling on vouchers, the cost of which would cause a great deal of fiscal harm to the already cash strapped commonwealth. Before his election as governor Shapiro raised more than $51 million with about $25 million coming from out of state PACs. We have no way of knowing how much funding came from school choice advocates. We do know he received out-of-state funds from California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois among some others. To understand his support for privatization of public education, we would need to be able to follow the money more closely. https://nextpittsburgh.com/latest-news/who-are-the-largest-donors-to-josh-shapiro-and-doug-mastriano-these-4-maps-follow-the-campaign-money/
There is a rumor that Shapiro was funded by JeffYass, the billionaire and the richest man in PA. Huge supporter of charters and vouchers. Trump supporter.
I knew there had to be connection to money. Shapiro is a smart man. He knows the state of the budget, and he knows that vouchers are wasteful and harm public schools. He probably also realizes that opening up the floodgates to vouchers would alienate many Pennsylvania voters.
Vouchers should be put to a state referendum.
He was. What I heard was that Yass didn’t fund Shapiro’s opponent in exchange for support of vouchers. There’s some info on that in this article: https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvanias-governor-josh-shapiro-school-choice/
For the budget to pass, we need all House and Senate Dems to agree, plus 4 House Republicans. So we need to find 4 “squishy” Repubs to cross party lines. Gonna be an interesting year.
Yass and other billionaires have far too much power. That needs to be addressed, too.