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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 10, 2023 11:49 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Accelerating Full and Fair Public School Funding |
| In recent years, the General Assembly has focused on “fair funding” of education, with fairness being achieved when every school district receives its appropriate share of the pot. Equitable funding is an important and admirable goal, and ensuring that all basic education funds are distributed under the formula has been a needed first step. However, what we are seeing in practice is that fair funding has become a zero-sum game, where one district wins only when another one loses. It is becoming painfully obvious that, while equity is important, it is equally essential that we consider adequacy, as we cannot have truly fair funding without adequate funding. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court made clear in its ruling earlier this week that, to truly ensure we are meeting the mandates of our state Constitution, we must provide public education funding which is both adequate (committing sufficient resources to assure success for all students) and equitable (distributing funds so that every student has the opportunity to succeed). The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a duty, enshrined in its constitution, that it must provide an adequately supported education system in which all children have access to a fairly funded and well-supported education – no matter race, class or zip code. To truly fulfill this duty, we need to look at this situation in a new light and recognize that we must make significant investments to increase our state share of education funding to bring true fairness to public school funding. As such, I am introducing a bill to expand on the duties of the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission to require that the commission consider ways to provide for school funding that is adequate and equitable, as well as make recommendations for ways we can provide increased funding for Pennsylvania’s schools. Ensuring adequacy with equity means we no longer have winners and losers. Every school district – small and large, urban and rural, growing and shrinking – would receive the resources they need. Please join me in the effort to accelerate full and fair funding for our public schools. |
Memo Updated: February 10, 2023 11:52 AM