Governor Tom Wolfe joined Scranton School District students, educators and elected officials today in celebrating the government’s historic $3.7 billion investment in public education over the past eight years.
“From day one, building a brighter future for the children of Pennsylvania has been my top priority, giving them a strong foundation and setting them up for a successful and prosperous future,” said Wolfe. The governor said, “We still have work to do to ensure that all Pennsylvania students receive a quality education, but we’ve made great strides in the last eight years.”
This year’s budget alone includes $1.8 billion in education investments.
Speaking at Scranton High School’s soon-to-be-opened STEMM Academy today, Gov. Wolfe recalled that properly funding education was a top priority when he took office in 2015. This year, that priority has resulted in:
- An increase of $525 million from fair funding practices. On average, Pennsylvania schools see an 8% increase in funding.
- $225 million increase Level up By providing targeted assistance to the 100 most needy school districts and ensuring that every child in Pennsylvania has equal access to a quality education, regardless of zip code, they grow and grow. We ensure that you have the opportunity to succeed.
- $100 million increase in special education.
- $79 million increase for early education Through pre-K count and head start.
- $220 million for public higher education.
Investing in Education includes an $850 million recurring fund that allows school districts to invest in student learning while reducing local property taxes.
“I commend Gov. Wolfe for his commitment to fighting for greater and better investment in education. He has brought more money to education than any other governor in Pennsylvania history. ,” said State Senator Marty Flynn. “This year’s historic increase in education funding means that my school, like Scranton High School today, lacks the resources and basic tools necessary to provide a high-quality teaching and learning environment for its students. We will support the district schools.”
First funded in last year’s budget, Level Up provides an equitable supplement to each of the state’s 100 most underfunded school districts.
“We would like to especially thank the governor for fighting for the $225 million leveling fund included in the 2022-23 state budget,” said State Rep. Tom Welby. “These funds will help historically underfunded school districts like Scranton and many others, along with basic education and historic equitable funding formula dollars distributed to school districts across the Commonwealth. additional budget.”
“Today marks a major victory in the battle for adequate and fair funding for the children in our school,” said Rep. Kyle Mullins. “I am proud to stand with Governor Wolfe and other elected leaders who have never wavered in their commitment to public education. I have to continue for the sake of
“Lackawanna County schools alone received an additional $19.4 million from this budget, which is 15.2 percent more than last year,” said Rep. Bridget Kosclowski. “The Scranton School District has been consistently underfunded for years and I’m not standing here today saying all the problems are fixed. But the district is still financially recovering. Providing an additional $11.5 million, including $5.1 million in level-up funding, is certainly admirable and should serve as a blueprint for future budget discussions.”
Even before the 2022-23 budget was finalized, the Wolf administration had:
- Invested more than $1.9 billion in preschool through college, including the largest single-year education funding increase in state history in 2021.
- Created a Level Up initiative to provide $100 million to the 100 most underfunded school districts.
- Established the Public Schools Equitable Funding Scheme to address chronic unfair and inadequate funding for federal school districts.
- Invested $116 million in science, computer science, and technical education. This includes his $80 million in innovative PAsmart programs and his $36 million in apprenticeships and employee training.
- Modernized standards of science education.
- Invested over $130 million in school safety grants to make schools and school communities safer.
- Lowering the age at which students must start school to six and raising the high school dropout age to 18 to ensure a lifetime of success for students.
- Launched the first-of-its-kind “It’s On Us PA” campus sexual assault prevention initiative to combat sexual assault and make colleges safer.
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