York Daily Record: Why Pa.’s School Funding System Is On Trial: Districts Like York Underfunded By State

A trial between the State of Pennsylvania and six school districts, two statewide organizations, and several parents over the state’s public school funding system will take place in Commonwealth Court in November. According to a benchmark written into state law, more than half of Pennsylvania’s 277 school districts have insufficient resource levels needed to offer students a 21st century education. “The profoundly inadequate level of state funding and the flaws in the system for distributing it have created inequities between school districts that are too extreme to ignore. The publication noted that the state has a school funding shortfall of US$4.6 billion and that 64 school districts have shortfalls exceeding US$4,000 per student. The state only contributes to 38% of k-12 education whereas the national average is 47%. The disparity has put low-income school districts at a disadvantage, lacking the funds to provide basic student needs. O’Melveny & Myers LLP, the Education Law Center, and the Public Interest Law Center represent petitioners in the lawsuit.

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