The fact that Pennsylvania has a school-funding problem is no secret. 

Over the last few years, the state has been featured in reports highlighting the significant gap in per-student spending between the state’s richest and poorest districts. State dollars, the reports show, are not leveling the playing field.

A new funding formula, one that takes into account poverty levels, has been put in place. But because it applies only to new funding, its impact will be slow.A report released last month highlighted another wrinkle in the issue. A study by the Education Law Center – echoing a report done by the group POWER last summer – says Pennsylvania’s inequitable school funding isn’t just a matter of low-income versus high-income, but of race.