In his first year as an active Lancaster Education Association member back in 2011, Joseph Torres led his fellow educators in a march against potential School District of Lancaster budget
A potentially game-changing school funding lawsuit in Pennsylvania is tentatively scheduled to go to trial Sept. 9, a Commonwealth Court judge ordered Thursday.
The decision comes seven years after the petitioners, which include the School District of Lancaster, filed the initial lawsuit stating Pennsylvaniaâs education funding system dangerously shortchanges public school students, especially those from low-income communities, in violation of the state constitution.
Representing the petitioners are the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center.
âI am excited that we will finally have our day in court to prove that our students are entitled by law to an adequate education that provides them with the same opportunities as their more privileged peers,â Lancaster Superintendent Damaris Rau said during a virtual press conference about the lawsuit Friday.
THE ISSUE
Leon B. Glover Jr., School District of Lancaster’s first Black principal, who was known as Buddy, died Feb. 11, two days after having a massive stroke, at age 71. As LNP | LancasterOnline s Alex Geli reported, “Glover, whose career at SDL spanned three decades, from 1971 to 2004, was a tutor, principal, assistant superintendent and interim superintendent. He was one vote shy of becoming superintendent in 2008, when the job went to former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and current Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology President Pedro Rivera.” A public viewing will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday in the Heritage Ballroom at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square; those who attend will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. A livestream of Glover’s homegoing service can be viewed at 11 a.m. Saturday at yourjourneychurch.com.