Important state budget update
Today, the state Senate and House passed a 2015-16 budget, which now sits on the governor's desk.
This budget provides a $150 million increase in basic education funding, a $50 million increase in Ready to Learn Block Grants, and a $50 million increase in special education funding. Gov. Wolf had proposed increases of $400 million in basic education funding and $100 million in special education funding.
It's not the budget that our schools need or that our students deserve. Once again, Republican leaders have passed a budget that falls far short of what we’re fighting for. Gov. Wolf has released a statement indicating he intends to veto this budget.
Regardless of what occurs with this current iteration of the budget, PSEA will continue to fight for a balanced budget that properly funds our schools. Lawmakers and the governor need to come to an agreement on a real, balanced budget before schools are forced to close.
What happens then?
We've been fighting for a good budget, and we won’t stop
PSEA members and staff have been fighting for a proper budget since day one.
Even before Gov. Wolf proposed his first budget last March, PSEA was at the forefront of advocacy efforts to confront and solve the school funding crisis. For four years before Gov. Wolf was elected, PSEA members reminded everyone who would listen about the consequences nearly $1 billion in school funding cuts had on our schools and students.
These efforts propelled education to the number one issue in Pennsylvania for three years running and helped elect Tom Wolf in November 2014.
When Gov. Wolf proposed his first budget, we stood with him.
Since Gov. Wolf's first day in office, PSEA leaders have been crafting joint advocacy strategies with other labor unions, working with education associations and advocacy groups, leading the Coalition for Fair Education Funding to design a fair school funding formula, and much more. We have also met repeatedly with the secretary of education, members of the governor's senior staff, and the governor himself.
Just as important, PSEA members sent 92,000 emails to legislators and made thousands of phone calls. Our Advocates for Children and Education had hundreds of meetings with lawmakers, our Building Action Coordinators coordinated efforts in their buildings, and our statewide officers spoke out - again and again - about the urgent need to pass Gov. Wolf's education funding plan.
No organization and no group of advocates have done more than PSEA to get a budget that ends the school funding crisis – and we're not going to stop fighting.
We need a budget immediately, because continuing to operate without one is too costly to our schools.
Regardless of whether this budget becomes law, there is a tough road ahead for public education in Pennsylvania. As lawmakers begin to debate next year's budget, they must find a way to do better. We have another chance to get this right in 2016-17, and we need to take it.
But, first, we need to make sure that schools don’t close this year.
With a $2 billion state budget deficit looming for next year, it is absolutely essential that lawmakers and the governor come together on a spending plan that closes this funding gap, invests in our public schools, and ensures that every student has the resources to get an excellent public education.
Today, Pennsylvania ranks 45th in the nation in state support for the public schools and 50th in school funding equity. The state provides only 32 percent of the funding school districts spend on classroom instruction through its basic education subsidy. Learn more atwww.psea.org/funding.
Regardless of where this new 2015-16 budget plan lands, we will need to keep fighting for the resources our schools, students, and communities need in the next budget. And, as we do, we need to remember just how important it is to fund our schools properly and end the school funding crisis once and for all.