Gov. Shapiro seeks school-funding boost to help poorer districts, but Republicans remain wary

Gov. Josh Shapiro is taking the first step in what is shaping up to be a complicated, yearslong process to respond to a court decision that found that Pennsylvania's system of public school funding violates the constitutional rights of students in the poorest districts.

-  Marc Levy

A dominant feature of Shapiro's budget plan released Tuesday seeks a $1.1 billion boost for public school operations and instruction. The 14% increase reflects recommendations produced last month by Shapiro appointees and Democratic lawmakers to fix the state's system of school funding.

Those recommendations envisioned a seven-year process of ramping up to a funding increase of more than $6.5 billion a year that was a little slower and lighter on money than what had been sought by the school districts that won the landmark court case a year ago.

Still, Shapiro's proposal represents a huge new sum for schools and a significant step in an effort to ensure that every school district in Pennsylvania, no matter how poor, gets the amount of money necessary to adequately educate each student.

Much of it would be concentrated among the biggest and poorer districts, including many that educate large proportions of minorities.

However, getting even the first installment past the Legislature — to say nothing of six other annual installments through 2030 — is not guaranteed.

Republican lawmakers have signaled that they are unwilling to significantly spend down the state's considerable reserves or raise taxes to fulfill the long-term funding schedule.

They have also avoided engaging in the question of how much more money for public schools is required to satisfy the court.