HARRISBURG (TNS) — Democratic lawmakers want to see Pennsylvania build on the historic investment the state made this year in public education by making history again.
During a Monday news conference, Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Vince Hughes of Philadelphia laid out a plan that calls for a $3.75 billion increase in funding for public schools. It relies on using $1 billion of one-time federal COVID-19 relief aid and the rest coming out of the state’s general fund that he claims is sustainable in future years.
“This historic proposal matches not just this historic moment but also matches historic revenues that exist in Pennsylvania and are projected to come to Pennsylvaniaby June 30,” Hughes said. “Either we meet the moment or we fail our children and fail this commonwealth.”
The Democratic proposal calls for investing:
Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokeswoman said the governor will consider this proposal as he prepares to his eighth and final budget to be delivered to a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate on Feb. 8.
Investing in education has been a top priority for the governor and will be in his final budget proposal, said his spokeswoman Beth Rementer said. She noted education spending has grown by $1.8 billion under his watch.
“So the administration is pleased that the Democrats share the governor’s priority to continue to invest in education,” Rementer said.
Hughes said the funding needed for this initiative is not “funny money. We’re doing this with real resources that are right in front of us, calling for us, calling for us to utilize our political will and our moral responsibility and the thoughtful investments necessary to invest in the education of our children.”
But the enthusiasm for this ambitious plan is not shared by the House and Senate Republican majorities.
They favor a more cautious approach in using the roughly $8 billion financial cushion the state is sitting on which comes in large part from the one-time federal COVID-19 relief aid.
“Unfortunately, the Democrats’ plan does not take into consideration that the funding sources it relies upon are needed to ensure we keep pace with year-over-year budgetary growth and will be necessary to balance our state budget and guarantee critical areas of state government do not see a reduction in funding,” said House GOP spokesman Jason Gottesman.
Senate GOP spokeswoman Erica Clayton Wright called the Democrats’ proposal “more of the same old, same old that Pennsylvanians find exhausting. The Senate Democrats proposal does nothing to prepare our best and brightest to fill the jobs of the future, and is nothing more than a political maneuver to turn a one-time spend into a reoccurring funding stream.”
{p class=”krtText”}She pointed out Republicans have worked in a bipartisan manner to make historic investments in education and will continue “to consider realistic and beneficial funding that helps prepare Pennsylvania’s future workforce.”
{p class=”krtText”}In advocating for the Democrats’ plan, Democratic senators and representatives stressed the toll the pandemic has had on students and educators’ mental health and resulting in staffing shortages as justification for spending the money now. They also see the funding the state has in hand as an opportunity to address inequities that exist with the school funding and updating and remediating toxic conditions in old school buildings.
{p class=”krtText”}“We’re sitting on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest federal funds and a surplus of state funds directly into our next generation,” said Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny County, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee. “These are our future doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, counselors and we must seize this moment.”
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