PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said city schools have long been underfunded. Now she is calling on the state to do better.
“We waited too long. We did our part. We now look to Harrisburg to ensure our students have the future they deserve,” Parker said.
The mayor was surrounded by a special coalition of education stakeholders, many of whom are often at odds with each other. But public and charter school leaders, lawmakers, union heads, advocates and more all came together to call on state lawmakers to push a state House-led education funding plan across the finish line.
“The groups gathered here today have put aside their differences for the good of our students and the good of our city,” Parker said from City Hall on Tuesday.
The House plan, which passed 107-1094 on Monday night, stemmed from a 2023 ruling by the Commonwealth Court, which ruled that the The state’s education financing system is unconstitutional.
The bill would provide $5.1 billion in new state funding to schools across the state over seven years. Philadelphia’s public schools would receive $1.4 billion during that period and $242 million in new money for the coming school year.
Philadelphia School District Superintendent Tony Watlington said the money would be “significant” and help the district fund a variety of areas.
“It will help us hire more teachers and invest in their training and development. We can improve our facilities. And we can ensure we can invest more resources in our young people and their social and emotional learning,” said Watlington .
But the House plan is far from a guarantee. Only five Republicans in the House of Representatives voted in favor of the ambitious bill on Monday, raising questions about whether it can survive the Republican Party-controlled Senate.
“Too early to tell,” said Republican Sen. Dave Argall, head of the Senate Education Committee.
Argall says there is broad and bipartisan support for doing more for education and that his committee will review the bill as it makes its way to the Senate. But he notes that the plan passed quickly through the lower chamber.
“It passed the House without much discussion or bipartisan cooperation,” Argall said. “We’re going to look at it. I believe in doing more. The key question is: how much more?”
One of his concerns was committing money years in advance.
“The fear is that whatever the Legislature says today five, six or seven years from now, we won’t be able to legally mandate future general assemblies,” said Argall, who represents parts of Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties.
Argall noted that he hears the same calls from parents and educators in his area: that the state needs to do more to better fund schools. But the senator says that likely means Republicans and Democrats will come to the table to make a deal.
“Somehow our Republicans and Democrats are going to have to find a way to reach an agreement here,” Argall said.
In Philadelphia, coalition members say state lawmakers should take note of what they’ve done.
“We’re all working together in Philadelphia. Let’s be an example of what we want Harrisburg to do as well,” said Dawn Chavious, a spokesperson for the African American Charter School Coalition.
Argall said discussions on education funding have already begun in the Senate. The deadline for lawmakers to approve a state budget is July 1.
