Centre County leaders, community members call for action after PA school funding ruling

More than two weeks after a Pennsylvania judge ruled that the state’s school funding system is unconstitutional, Centre County education leaders and community members held a rally in Bellefonte to celebrate the historic decision and call for action.

Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer issued a decision on Feb. 7 in favor of poorer school districts in a lawsuit that argued that the state’s funding of K-12 education violates students’ constitutional rights.

In Cohn Jubelirer’s ruling, she wrote that the court is in “uncharted territory with this landmark case” and left it to the governor, lawmakers and the school districts that sued to come up with a plan to address the constitutional violations, the Associated Press reported.

Saturday’s rally on the Centre County Courthouse steps, which was attended by local education leaders including State College Area School District Board of Directors President Jackie Huff and elected officials including Centre County Commissioner Amber Concepcion, called on lawmakers to act and fully fund all public schools.

“Now it’s the legislature’s job to come up with the necessary funding so that all students can receive the quality public education guaranteed in our state constitution,” a press release from Huff announcing the event stated. “Complying with this ruling will change the future for millions of families, so that children are no longer denied the education they deserve.”

State Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, was among speakers at the event. The ruling, he wrote on Twitter Saturday afternoon, “is a step in the right direction and requires us to correct past failures to provide a quality public education for all students — regardless of ZIP Code.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 5:47 PM.