Opinion: All students in PA deserve the same opportunities
On Dec. 14, education advocates from across the state held a rally on the Pennsylvania Capitol steps with the slogan “1:75. We can’t hold it!”. That slogan — and the toilet that advocates brought to the Capitol steps — was a response to testimony about inadequate school facilities given during Pennsylvania’s school funding trial. Petitioners from the trial maintain that Pennsylvania has failed to uphold the General Assembly’s constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” system of public education, arguing that the funding system also violates the state constitution’s equal protection provisions.
During the trial, Panther Valley School District Superintendent David McAndrew testified that 75 kindergartners at his district’s elementary school share one toilet. In later testimony, a teacher from the Greater Johnstown School District shared that 125 first graders share a single toilet. She described the persistent disruptions in learning as students go one-by-one to the toilet. Accidents are frequent, she said, because children cannot hold it while they wait for the toilet to be available.
Over the past 10 weeks, witnesses have testified about students learning in windowless closets and locker rooms. They have described unhealthy conditions in deteriorating buildings, including asbestos, mold and inadequate ventilation. And they have testified about large classes in buildings that lack enough counselors, reading specialists and other critical support for students who are struggling to learn.
These conditions and the lack of supports for students are directly linked to the state’s inadequate funding system and school districts’ inability to raise enough money at the local level to provide students with the opportunities and supports that they need and deserve in their schools.
I attended the State College Area School District my entire school career, where learning conditions like those described in this trial’s testimony were unimaginable. In addition to plenty of bathrooms, I enjoyed access to small class sizes, high-quality educators, robust music and art opportunities, AP courses, counselors, libraries at all of my schools, and any school supplies I needed.
My fellow classmates and I were not more deserving of these opportunities than students in low-wealth districts. We just happened to live in a school district with enough local wealth to provide these opportunities to its children.
I was very proud when, on Jan. 7, the State College school board unanimously passed a resolution in favor of the school funding lawsuit, citing the fact that the system favors districts with affluent tax bases. “For districts with relatively low total assessed value compared to the number of students, even high millage rates and increasing taxation may provide inadequate and falling revenue for the district. This funding approach creates vast disparities between high-wealth and low-wealth districts, leading to one of the widest funding gaps in the country,” the resolution says.
Ultimately, the consequences of this inadequate funding system are most strongly felt by the students with the highest needs. The graduation rate in PA’s wealthy districts is 94% and in low-wealth districts the graduation rate is 74%. Currently, 20% of school districts with the lowest wealth educate 50% of the state’s Black students and 40% of its Latinx students.
The quality of a child’s education and, ultimately, their future lives as adults, should not be determined by the local wealth of their community. It’s time for legislative leaders in Harrisburg to stop defending a system that creates haves and have-nots and instead focus on ensuring adequate funding for all schools to give all students a fair shot at having a bright future.