The vast majority of school districts in Pennsylvania are underfunded. Now, it is time to ensure equitable funding for every public school and invest in the communities they serve.
In February, the Commonwealth Court ruled the state’s current system of funding public education is unconstitutional. That ruling confirmed a reality my House colleagues and I have long fought to rectify: the commonwealth has unquestionably failed to fairly fund public schools across the state year after year and decade after decade.
Not only must we work to right these historic wrongs, we are also left to grapple with the disparities in education laid bare by the pandemic.
For far too long, public school funding has relied too heavily on local property taxes and taxpayers. Yet many of those taxpayers and communities, especially in rural areas, are already struggling, and putting that financial burden on them is not only unfair and unsustainable, but unconstitutional. It is our duty as state legislators to remedy this situation for students, educators and taxpayers.
The current system inevitably results in economically and historically disadvantaged school districts being shortchanged. While they struggle to keep pace, charter schools make things even worse by siphoning billions in local tax dollars away from neighborhood public schools, just as private school vouchers would. Our public schools are in a perpetual funding hole that keeps getting deeper. We must address the root causes of these disparities.
Nearly all of the school districts I represent in Centre County are underfunded, creating serious challenges for students, teachers and administrators, and we are not alone. In fact, more than 80% of all school districts in Pennsylvania are underfunded, according to an analysis published by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
These districts are located in all areas — rural, suburban, and urban — and have very similar needs and challenges, as demonstrated by the range of plaintiffs in the lawsuit, from Greater Johnstown and William Penn School districts to Philadelphia parents and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools. Every school needs and deserves sufficient funding to provide critical mental health services, ensure broadband access, feed hungry students, recruit and retain teachers and so much more. False narratives based on geography divide us when instead we should be united to save our public schools.
For more than 20 years, I worked in the educational technology sector, partnering with administrators, teachers and community leaders across the state. That experience helped inspire me to run for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and continues to fuel my advocacy for public schools, particularly in rural areas, and for reforming our broken system of funding, improving career and technical education programs and doing more to prepare students for their future.
House Democrats are committed to delivering better jobs, better schools and better communities. That means investing in every school district across the state as they work to recruit and retain teachers, improve school safety and services, and better serve their local communities and taxpayers.
Access to a high-quality public education remains the greatest force for socioeconomic mobility and prosperity at our disposal. We must ensure that every student receives an equitable education across the state, regardless of their ZIP code.
Their future — and ours — depends on it.
(Paul Takac, A Democrat, represents Pennsylvania’s 82nd Legislative District in Centre County.)
