Court: Present Pennsylvania School Funding System Is Unconstitutional
After many years, the lawsuit arguing that Pennsylvania’s funding system is unconstitutional has been settled. This is a whole new ball game. I actually logged on to a press conference like a real reporter, and wrote the decision up for Forbes.com.
The decision fills 786 pages, so there’s much to unpack. But the findings are clear enough, determining that the current funding system is in violation of the state’s constitutional requirement to provide a “thorough and efficient systems of public schools” to educate all children.
To summarize, the Education Clause requires that every student be provided with a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education. This is consistent with the plain language of the Education Clause, as well as its history.
Leading to this directive:
All witnesses agree that every child can learn. It is now the obligation of the Legislature, Executive Branch, and educators, to make the constitutional promise a reality in this Commonwealth.
While the court decision is quite clear about the current school funding system in Pennsylvania—it’s unconstitutional and cannot continue as is—it is less clear what comes next.
Using a fair funding formula to redistribute current state funding is not an answer. That funding is inadequate and simply moving it around was described by one witness as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Experts estimate that the state needs an addition $4.6 billion to plug the funding gaps. The ruling itself suggests the options for reform are “virtually limitless,” and don’t have to be “entirely financial,” though clearly financial reforms are a large part of what’s needed.
Who has to sort all this out? The court order calls for the “respondents, comprised of the Executive and Legislative branches of government and administrative agencies with expertise in the field of education, the first opportunity, in conjunction with Petitioners, to devise a plan to address the constitutional deficiencies identified herein.”