Support the Full Funding Plan!

Pennsylvania State Senators and Representatives

Support the Full Funding Plan!

Every child in Pennsylvania, no matter what they look like, where they live or how poor or rich they are, should have a chance to get a good education, secure a good job and contribute to our economy and community. And all of us benefit when we have a skilled workforce and educated citizens.

That's why Pennsylvania’s House and Senate Democrats are calling for a major new K-12 education funding initiative. This is your opportunity to tell your legislator you support a critical step forward for our kids.

Pennsylvania now has one of the most inequitably and inadequately funded K-12 school systems in the country. The state is 45th of 50 states for the state share of school districting. And 89% of state funding goes to school districts on the basis of political decisions that have nothing to do with the needs of our kids.

The result is that the average gap between the level of funding needed to provide an adequate education and what is actually provided is 10 times greater for school districts in high poverty areas than in low poverty areas. It And it is 3 times greater in school districts with the highest share of Black or Hispanic students than in school districts the lowest share of Black or Hispanic students.

Sign this petition to tell your state representatives and senator to embrace the plan.

PA House and Senate Democrats have been working together, with support from PBPC to develop a bold new plan to use the state budget surplus and ARP funding to raise state funding of our school districts and move closer to providing well-funded schools for every child in our state, no matter what they look like, where they live, and whether they are rich or poor.

The plan would make significant investments in the following areas:

  • $1.1 billion to the fair funding formula
  • $750 million the Level Up program that provides additional funds to the 200 most inequitably funded schools.
  • $1.1 billion to repair toxic school buildings.
  • $200 million for special education
  • $125 million for teacher recruitment
  • $25 million for career and technical education
  • $250 million to address historic staffing problems
  • $125 million for mental health services in our schools

No taxes are need to fund this program as the state will have an accumulated surplus of $11.2 billion by the end of June 2022 and is likely to  have at least $8 billion left in that surplus a year later. Giving our kids a better education is the most important thing we can do to bolster our economy and thus generate more state revenues in the future.

There is no excuse not to act this year fix the injustice in k-12 education we have lived with too long.

Sign this petition to your member of the PA House and Senate to tell them to support the Full Funding Plan.

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To: Pennsylvania State Senators and Representatives
From: [Your Name]

Every child in Pennsylvania, no matter what they look like, where they live or how poor or rich they are, should have a chance to get a good education, secure a good job and contribute to our economy and community. And all of us benefit when we have a skilled workforce and educated citizens.

Pennsylvania now has one of the most inequitably and inadequately funded K-12 school systems in the country. The state is 45th of 50 states for the state share of school districting. And 89% of state funding goes to school districts on the basis of political decisions that have nothing to do with the needs of our kids.

The result is that the average gap between the level of funding needed to provide an adequate education and what is actually provided is 10 times greater for school districts in high poverty areas than in low poverty areas. It And it is 3 times greater in school districts with the highest share of Black or Hispanic students than in school districts the lowest share of Black or Hispanic students.

We, as Pennsylvanians from across the Commonwealth, are asking you to support the Full Funding Plan – a bold new plan to use the state budget surplus and ARP funding to raise state funding of our school districts and move closer to providing well-funded schools for every child in our state, no matter what they look like, where they live, and whether they are rich or poor.

The Full Funding Plan would make significant investments in the following areas:
- $1.1 billion to the fair funding formula
- $750 million the Level Up program that provides additional funds to the 200 most inequitably funded schools.
- $1.1 billion to repair toxic school buildings.
- $250 million to address historic staffing problems
- $200 million for special education
- $25 million for career and technical education
- $125 million for teacher recruitment
- $125 million for mental health services in our schools

No taxes are need to fund this program as the state will have an accumulated surplus of $11.2 billion by the end of June 2022 and is likely to have at least $8 billion left in that surplus a year later. Giving our kids a better education is the most important thing we can do to bolster our economy and thus generate more state revenues in the future.

There is no excuse not to act this year fix the injustice in k-12 education we have lived with too long.

This is our chance to take action to ensure EVERY kid in Pennsylvania has access to a high-quality education and the supports they need, no matter their zip code.

There is no excuse not to move now to fix a problem we have lived with too long.