Unusual Coalition in Pennsylvania Partners for Reform

On November 14-15, the Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC) convened a statewide school finance symposium in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Co-sponsored by an array of state, advocacy, religious, and policy organizations, the symposium brought together Pennsylvania policymakers and advocates to discuss a national perspective on educational opportunity, the current state of Pennsylvania school funding, what reforms have succeeded across the nation, and what approaches to take.

The symposium is part of a larger collaboration to reform Pennsylvania's system of school funding. The EPLC is teaming up with a grassroots advocacy group, Good Schools Pennsylvania, and a legal advocacy group, the Education Law Center, to mount a multi-pronged approach to changing the way K-12 education is funded in Pennsylvania. A year ago, Governor Rendell and the legislature passed Act 72 in an effort to trade property tax relief for more state funding. The complicated act would limit how much local school districts' budgets could increase each year without a voter referendum and supplement their budgets from slot machine revenue. Because the amount of gambling revenue remains unknown, only about 1 in 5 school districts signed on to the optional deal.

The coalition, however, believes that Act 72 does not fully address the lack of state investment in education and underlying inequities and inadequacy in school funding. In addition to raising these issues to the Assembly in a letter cosigned by over 150 organizations and individuals, the group is mobilizing grassroots advocates to bring their voices to the state capitol. Good Schools PA uses “Groups of 10,” in which citizens gather in communities across the state to learn about the complex issues of school finance, how the state could improve its support of public education, and how to effect change. These informed networks are communicating their concerns to legislators and state officials.

Education Law Center

“By collaborating, we can make progress,” says Baruch Kintisch, of ELC. Each organization brings particular expertise and represents a different constituency. Unifying these parties into a collaborative effort moves towards providing a solid education for all students. ELC traditionally works with students who frequently suffer the effects of the achievement gap, like low-income, special education, minority, and Limited English Proficient children. By offering legal help and support to them and their families, the organization has developed community contacts, contacts who frequently are also deeply interested in appropriate funding, excited to dialogue about these issues, and motivated to take action.

Good Schools PA

“Each of us has different points of entry for our members,” says Janis Risch, Acting Executive Director of Good Schools PA. “That's why it's so beneficial to be cross-fertilizing our contacts.” In addition to training families, Good Schools PA brings in coalition members from the faith-based community. These community members are often deeply responsive to the moral imperative to provide equal education for all children and frequently do not have children in the most disadvantaged schools.

EPLC

The third group in this ‘three-legged stool' is EPLC, whose strength is convening leaders from around the state to focus on school funding issues. Their symposia and other initiatives reach policymakers, elected officials, and leaders of statewide education associations, teachers unions, and superintendent associations. By drawing together policymakers and education experts, EPLC builds awareness of key issues at the state leadership level.

The collaboration aims to put adequate and equitable school funding on the agenda for the current special session of the legislature and for next year's budget discussions. It would like to see part of the budget allocated for an adequacy cost study and more progress made towards a $8500 per student foundation-level funding. While reform can be a difficult and time-consuming task, this partnership and pooling of resources in Pennsylvania goes a long way towards achieving success.

Prepared by Katherine Lu, November 8, 2005