April 21, 2015 – by Karen Langle, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau – HARRISBURG — A panel of judges ruled Tuesday that the power to make decisions on school funding rests with the General Assembly and not the courts. Continue reading
Pennsylvania
Suit challenging school funding headed to top Pa. court
April 21, 2015 – by Kristen A. Graham and Martha Woodall, Philadelphia Inquirer – A lawsuit contending that Pennsylvania’s system of school funding is broken will move to the state’s top court, attorneys vowed Tuesday after a lower court dismissed the case brought by school districts, parents, and advocates. Continue reading
School Funding Case One Step Closer to Hearing by Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Commonwealth Court Refuses to Review Whether School Funding Complies with State Constitution
Harrisburg, Pa. – The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania today issued an order in the lawsuit challenging the state’s failure to adequately and equitably fund Pennsylvania’s public schools. The lower court interpreted prior state Supreme Court precedent as eliminating any role for the courts in overseeing whether the legislature complies with the state constitution on school funding questions. Continue reading
Education funding gaps: Which states are hitting, missing the mark?
March 25, 2015 – by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, The Christian Science Monitor – While the debate rages over the federal budget and how much will go to K-12 schools, states and localities supply the biggest share of education dollars – about 87 percent on average. But is that money distributed fairly to the students who need it most? Continue reading
Opinion: Education is more than ‘keeping the doors open’
March 25, 2015 – by Sue Ann Rybak, Chestnut Hill Local – If you ask any parent with a child in the Philadelphia School District whether they think Pennsylvania’s current system of funding education is fair, I doubt that many would agree.
PA Districts Sue State Over Inequitable School Funding
March 18th, 2015 – National Opportunity to Learn Campaign – While Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and the state legislature argue over his proposed budget increase for education, some districts and parents are taking another route to fight for increased funding for their schools: the courts.
Attorneys for districts, parents ask judges to hear education funding case
March 12, 2015 – by Laura Benshoff and Dale Mezzacappa, Philadelphia Public School Notebook – Judges must order Pennsylvania’s governor and legislature to guarantee the constitutional right of every student to a “thorough and efficient” education, attorneys told a Commonwealth Court panel Wednesday. Continue reading
School funding lawsuit is ‘like Groundhog Day’ movie, state officials say
March 11, 2015 – by Kara Newhouse, LancasterOnline – As long as public schools are open and running, the state Legislature is meeting its constitutional obligation, argued legal representatives for state officials on Wednesday. Continue reading
Commonwealth Court weighs fate of Pennsylvania school funding lawsuit
March 12, 2015 – by Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – HARRISBURG — Seeking to stymie a legal challenge to how Pennsylvania pays for its public schools, lawyers for the state told a panel of judges Wednesday that education funding is not a matter for the courts to decide. Continue reading
School Funding Suit Against State Advances Despite Promises From Wolf
March 11, 2015 – by Joel Mathis, Philadelphia Magazine – It’s time for Pennsylvania’s courts to force the state legislature to properly fund state schools, attorneys representing a coalition of money-hungry school districts argued today before the Commonwealth Court at Harrisburg. Continue reading
School-funding system ‘broken,’ Pa. judges hear
March 11, 2015 – by Kristen Graham, Philadelphia Inquirer – Pennsylvania’s system of education funding is broken, and the courts must force lawmakers to make it right, attorneys for school districts, parents, and organizations that have sued the commonwealth told a panel of judges here Wednesday.
Attorneys to Court: Hear our case on behalf of Pennsylvania students
March 11, 2015 – Parents, advocates, and school district personnel descended on Commonwealth Court today to hear arguments against legislative leaders, state education officials, and Pennsylvania’s Governor for failure to uphold the state’s constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education. Continue reading
ELC Supports Governor’s Proposal to Restore School Funding Cuts
March 4, 2015 – The Education Law Center supports Governor Wolf’s proposal to restore $400 million in state funding to local school districts. The proposal directs critical resources to schools unable to meet the needs of students.
Oral Argument Set in PA School Funding Lawsuit
Feb. 19, 2015 – The Commonwealth Court will hear oral argument in William Penn School District, et al., v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, et al. on Wednesday, March 11th at 9:30 a.m. in Harrisburg. This case challenges the failure of legislative leaders, state education officials, and Pennsylvania’s Governor to uphold their constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education. Continue reading
OP-ED: Speaking up for parents and vulnerable students in York City
Jan. 13, 2015 – By Maura McInerney, Education Law Center – In two years since being appointed Chief Recovery Officer for the York City School District, David Meckley has produced nothing more than an ill-conceived privatization scheme to convert the 7,500-student school district into charter schools run by the for-profit company, Charter Schools USA.
ELC Commends Feds on New Correctional Education Guidance
Dec. 11, 2014 – The Education Law Center commends the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education on issuing new joint guidance on Correctional Education.
The guidance, released this week, not only encourages states to focus on prevention to reduce the number of children sent to juvenile correctional facilities, but also emphasizes the importance of providing high quality education to students while they are in those facilities.
“A key ingredient to success for a youth leaving a juvenile justice placement is the transition back to a traditional school setting,” said ELC’s Stoneleigh Emerging Leader Fellow Ashley Sawyer. “But, because of the grossly inadequate education many receive while locked up, the rate of successful transition is low and the rate of drop-out is high.”
The guidance reminds facilities that the same civil rights laws that apply to traditional public schools apply to facilities providing educational services. And these protections extend to all students, including students with disabilities. In addition, the guidance makes clear that students in juvenile correctional facilities, who otherwise meet eligibility criteria, are eligible for federal need-based grants for post-secondary education.
“Our staff at ELC has long-advocated for children in juvenile correctional facilities, including children with disabilities, who are legally entitled to a full range of educational services,” said ELC Interim Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr. “Far too many children are sent to correctional facilities, and too often these children do not receive an appropriate education while in placement,” she said.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 44 other states and the District of Columbia have all reduced the number of children placed in juvenile correctional facilities, said Sawyer, who will work to ensure this new guidance is implemented in Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania is, unfortunately, one of a few states that has actually increased the number of students placed in juvenile correctional facilities,” she said.
Read the Washington Post article.
Pennsylvania schools sue state in bid to reform funding
Commentary: State needs a rational fix for its method of funding charter students with disabilities
Dec. 1, 2014 – by David Lapp, Education Law Center – Pennsylvania’s calculation for funding special education in charter schools is broken. In Philadelphia, special education tuition paid by the District to charter schools has doubled from $11,000 per student to over $23,000 per student in just 12 years. During the same period, special education revenue to the District from the state stagnated at under $5,000 per student.
ELC Letter Opposing Cyber Charter Expansion
Nov. 24, 2014 – The Education Law Center submitted a letter to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq urging her to reject the latest round of cyber charter school applications based on the continued lack of accountability for these schools, which have shown poor academic results, excessive amounts of student turnover, and periodic criminal fiscal negligence.
Suit calls state school funding arbitrary and irrational
Nov. 23, 2014 – By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – In 1999, the state Supreme Court ruled that the question of state school funding was a political issue for the Legislature, not one for the judiciary.
Now, a new lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court last week once again seeks a judicial order, this time armed with state test results showing schools failing to meet state academic standards and a study commissioned by the Legislature quantifying the disparity in resources.