House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

Posted:	January 6, 2021 12:38 PM
From:	Representative Joanna E. McClinton and Rep. Jordan A. Harris, Rep. Matthew D. Bradford
To:	All House members
Subject:	$250 million to Keep Kids in the Classroom

Pennsylvania is expected to receive approximately $250 million in discretionary education funding from the recently passed second round of federal COVID relief aid for education: $204 million in ESSER funding and $46 million in GEER funding. It is imperative that we distribute this much needed and overdue additional federal support equitably to meet the needs of education providers and students as we focus on keeping kids in school. Fortunately, Pennsylvania already has an equitable distribution method with broad bipartisan support – the fair funding formula for basic education. This legislation uses the fair funding formula to allocate these discretionary federal funds to school districts to ensure our students are able to get back to school safely. As detailed in a recent report, the first $200 million the legislature directed to schools was not distributed equitably. Each school entity received a minimum amount, and all school districts received an equal per-student additional amount. We’ve clearly seen that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. It’s time to give back local control and allow these schools to make these decisions, based on their own circumstances, to determine what will work best for them. We cannot repeat this mistake when our children’s futures are on the line. Please join us in sponsoring this legislation. For your information, an estimate of the distribution by school district is attached to this memo.
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