AP
A general view of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center, home to the Commonwealth Court, is seen Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pa.
A lawsuit over how Pennsylvania funds public schools is scheduled to go to court this fall. The proceedings in Commonwealth Court are slated to begin September 9th, seven years after the suit was originally filed.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, a group of parents, school districts, and advocacy organizations say the state government has failed to provide all students with an “adequate” education as required in the Pennsylvania constitution and that, as a result, children’s opportunities rest largely on where they live. Black and Latino students are concentrated in underfunded districts, according to research prepared for the case.
State must help struggling districts (letter) lancasteronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lancasteronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When: School District of Lancaster board meeting, April 6.
What happened: The board discussed briefly endorsing a resolution that supports a countywide health department â an agency some members said was needed this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic as they grappled with choices that affected the health of more than 10,000 district students.
Quotable: âMy question I was just thinking about was âwould a county health department have helped us in our decision-making process this past year?ââ board member Mara Creswell McGrann said. âAnd Iâm not even making a joke. I think I think the answer is yes.â
Background: Last month, Manheim Township passed a resolution calling on Lancaster County commissioners to create a county-level health department. Pennsylvania has six county health departments and four municipal health departments. Manheim Township sent a copy of its resolution to other municipalities in the county asking for their support.
Pa lawmakers ought to implement the school fair funding formula fully before the court requires them to do so [editorial] lancasteronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lancasteronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last spring, just after schools pivoted to virtual learning, dozens of parents from the School District of Lancaster signed an op-ed calling attention to the plight of our district in light of the pandemic (âPublic school funding at risk during pandemic,â April 25 LNP | LancasterOnline).
In February 2020, School District of Lancaster Superintendent Damaris Rau announced that our district was facing a $10 million deficit. Knowing that communities of color would bear the brunt of the pandemic, we feared the impending wreckage. Accordingly, we asked our lawmakers to fund our public schools fairly and adequately.
A year later, our call is more pressing than ever.