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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 18, 2019 10:53 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | 100% Fair Public School Funding |
| In deference to the wisdom enshrined in our state constitution to require our public education system “to serve the needs of the Commonwealth”, we affirm the unanimous, bipartisan recommendation of the Basic Education Funding Commission to establish a fair funding formula toward this end. To truly fulfill this constitutional mandate, the General Assembly should commit itself to full and fair funding of our public schools. Presently, due in large part to population and demographic shifts, school districts across the state are funded at levels that do not match their respective needs. The vast majority of Pennsylvania’s poorest students are enrolled in school districts that are woefully underfunded. Despite the unanimous agreement by the members of the BEF Commission in 2015, currently only about 9% of 2018-19 state funds are distributed to schools through the new fair funding method. This bill requires that 100% of state funds are distributed through this formula effective immediately, acknowledging that significantly more funding is required to ensure that each school district has enough resources to educate its students. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation |
Introduced as HB961