A Commonwealth Court opinion handed down this week could change the way K-12 public schools are funded in the state. Schools in Northeast Pennsylvania were integral in the lawsuit filed over nine years ago.
A group of school districts, parents and organizations filed a lawsuit in 2014 that sought to prove that schools in less-wealthy areas don’t receive a fair share of money for education. They argued that the public school funding model based on local taxes was unjust. On Tuesday, Commonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer agreed, ruling that Pennsylvania’s school funding model is unconstitutional.
Shenandoah Valley School District (SVSD) in Schuylkill County was one of the few petitioner districts in the lawsuit alongside Wilkes-Barre Area and Panther Valley. About three-quarters of students at SVSD were considered “economically disadvantaged” during the 2021-2022 school year, according to demographic data compiled by Future Ready PA Index. SVSD Superintendent Brian Waite argued in court in 2021 that districts like his were struggling financially.
During the 2012-2013 school year, Waite's district furloughed about 10 teachers, which meant programs for art, media and physical education in the elementary school were either cut or reduced. Teachers from other subjects were filling in as gym teachers, Waite said in an interview with WVIA News.
The district also had to cut transportation for students within a certain radius of schools. Some kindergarten classes had one teacher to as many as 33 four-year-olds at one point, he said.
“I unfortunately had to look at how I can minimize collateral damage on programs that affect our students,” Waite said.
But as years of financial troubles rolled on, SVSD also needed more teachers for its English Language Learners (ELLs), according to Waite.
“We had four teachers back in 2013 to help the ELL population,” he said. “We still only have four teachers.”
His district ranks 11th in the state for its high rate of ELLs, he said, estimating that this school year, that’s about one in six students.
That rate grew quickly at SVSD. The number of English Language Learners in his district doubled between 2008 and 2021, according to Waite’s testimony in Commonwealth Court.
“So as our demographics change and shift, we have to be able to help support kids so that they can be successful for college and career as they leave us,” Waite said, “and without the funding that’s going to be very difficult.”
Edward J. Albert heads a group that advocates for districts like Shenandoah Valley. He’s executive director at the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools (PARSS), an organization that represents more than 200 districts, including many in rural northeastern and central Pennsylvania
Albert, whose organization was part of the lawsuit, said the court hearings came down to arguments from educators themselves. Dr. Brian Costello, superintendent of Wilkes-Barre Area School District, was one of the school leaders that presented. Albert also said great legal representation from the Public Interest Law Center and the Education Law Center made a difference.
“Educators know what children need to learn and succeed,” Albert said. “Educators know that, so they need the tools.”
Albert said that although it’s unclear exactly where the funding would come from, he’s ecstatic about the ruling. He said he looks forward to solving the funding crisis facing so many districts in the state.
