Updated: 2:32 PM EST Feb 4, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript my legislative plan this year is all about removing and eliminating barriers for Pennsylvanians. It's about fixing problems that hold people back at every age all across the commonwealth and making it easier for Pennsylvania's to build better lives for themselves, for their families and for their communities on. That's why fully and fairly funding every public school in the state is the cornerstone of my plan. Every child in Pennsylvania deserves the head start in life that a high quality education provides. But chronic underfunding has deprived many of our school district of the resource resource is they need for their students to get the training and education we need them to get. In the six years since I took office, we have secured $1.4 billion in education funding. That includes nearly 800 million for basic education, $140 million for special education and $40 million for career and technical education. But this is not nearly enough to provide for all the needs of the students in Pennsylvania. Thief Fair funding formula, first enacted in 2016, was a major bipartisan. I want to emphasize that it was a bipartisan achievement, and it was intended Thio fix this problem, but it only works. I think the fair funding formula is great, but it on Lee works if it's fully enacted, and so far it has not been right now on Lee, 11% of school funding goes through the fair funding formula. That's all the new money that has gone out. But that's only about 11% so we still have work to do. Despite major population shifts in school communities over the past 30 years, 89% of state education funding is still based on student head count. In 1992 this is 2021 growing school district's aren't receiving enough funding to meet the needs of their students. That's true all over Pennsylvania low income communities, especially rural and urban on. That forced the school district's to raise property taxes in an effort to close the gap between what the state provides on what they feel their students need. And even that even with that many district still don't have the resource, is to provide high quality education, the high quality education. We need every student in Pennsylvania to get so Pennsylvania school funding system is structurally unfair, and that's a problem because it fails students. It fails teachers, it fails communities. It fails. All looks, everyone in Pennsylvania. So I'm proposing that we run all current state basic education funding through the fair funding formula, all of them that way. Funding will finally reflect the actual cost of educating the students in every district to make it successful. I'm also proposing a $1.3 billion investment in education funding. $1.1 billion of this investment will ensure that no school, not one school district in the Commonwealth, will lose a single dollar in state support. That's the hold harmless. Every school district, every school district in the Commonwealth will be held harmless and an additional on the top of the 1.1 billion an additional $200 million. To ensure that every school district gets a funding increase, growing district's in big cities and rural communities will finally get their fair share. End way can help communities ease the pressure on property taxpayers. This plan also ensures the district's, with shrinking enrollment, are protected from a cut and will actually get an increase this year. Remember that extra $200 million. Because no matter where you live, no matter where you live, every student deserves an opportunity to succeed. That's what parents want for their Children. And that's what Pennsylvanians all of us need for our future. This isn't the only thing I want to do to improve education in Pennsylvania. My plan also calls for meaningful charter school reform, so the charter school funding reflects the rial costs of education, which will save school districts more than $229 million a year. That's the savings. My plan will also ensure that charter schools are providing a high quality education and that they maintain the same level of accountability and transparency that we expect to public schools, the traditional public schools. I also want to invest in teachers, want to raise the minimum salary for teachers, which I think right now is around $18,500 to $45,000 to reflect the current cost of living and the hard work that teachers do to put our Children on the path to success. This is going to ensure that our school district's could attract the most qualified and talented educators on. I want to invest in higher education to through the Nellie Bly tuition program. This program, which helps students afford the real cost of the higher education, will also encourage them to build their careers right here in Pennsylvania. My legislative plan is an investment in Pennsylvania students. But really, it's an investment in the future for all of us. For every Pennsylvania, when we when our commonwealth steps up and meets the needs of its students, it takes the burden off taxpayers takes the burden off communities. It ensures that every student, no matter what their zip code, can succeed in school and beyond. And it makes for a better, more prosperous Pennsylvania. So thank you very much. And now I'm gonna happy to turn this over to my friend represented Chris Rod. Thank you, Governor. I'm really honored to be here, and I'm really excited to um, what you put forth is a bold vision of bold vision that we desperately need in our commonwealth. We're moving towards full and fair funding of public education. This could not be stated strongly enough, and I got to say I'm really proud to live in a state that has ah, Constitution that guarantees or seeks to have a mandate that provides for a thorough and efficient system of public education. Not all states have that our U. S. Constitution doesn't have that, and that's very important. And from a personal perspective, I'm the grandson off a boy who was raised in Jim Crow, Mississippi, who loved toe learn but was denied an education through public schools after the 10th grade because he was black and his grandfather before him was denied the opportunity, the right to read or write because he was born into slavery because of state lawmakers in that state, that is shameful. But you know it also a shameful that despite our constitutional mandate in our commonwealth, we still live in educational apartheid in Pennsylvania, where the disparities are significant, so significant that the single most influential factor to determine if a public school student gets the most money is whiteness. This is not South Africa, and yet I repeat the single most influential factor to determine if a student is going to get the fullest amount of money the state provides is whiteness. The governor doesn't stand for this. I don't stand for this Pennsylvania families deserve equal access to a quality education. And the governor, Despite this bold move, you need help in the Legislature. You can't do it alone. We have a co equal branch of government in our Pennsylvania General Assembly. And it is our moral imperative are more imperative to do the do right by all students by all parents, teachers, administrators so forth, irrespective of the bodies they inhabit and the ZIP codes in which they were born. This is what we must do and we must move forward towards educational justice. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Allentown Superintendent Thomas Parker. Yeah, Greens. When first given the opportunity to engage, I studied the impact of the governor's recommendations and wanted to know how it would affect not only the 17,000 students in the city of Allentown, but all of the Children enrolling urban schools across the Commonwealth. We understand the political realities of the budget process and respect both sides of the argument on resource allocation. However, one thing we all know for sure district like Allentown are and have been under resourced. While we do everything possible to provide an equitable education for the Children that we serve my local legislative leaders have been dynamic as we have advocated for and received additional health. The reality is, however, the basic formula for funding school district's like Allentown creates disparities in education that exacerbate disparities in communities. We have a number of fiscal realities in urban districts that cannot be ignored. Rising costs in health care and special education are examples of the issues that we face. While our charter school tuition costs capture half of our basic education allocation here in the city of Allentown, the impact of this significant increase in funding would be felt immediately and provide relief to our taxpayers who have seen property tax increase yearly. As we have tackled the structural deficit while also trying to maintain critical staff from programs, it would create opportunities for opportunities for us to address building deficiencies and fully fund programs that we know our Children need to thrive. If you want to know why S D. D s additional resource is, I invite any of you to come to Allentown and visit with me Harrison Morton Middle School. Then you'll see right here behind me, which was built during the Ulysses s Grant presidency. We have great kids, great teachers and great families in that building. Each and every day they deserve mawr, and we look forward. Toa having the resource is necessary to provide that for them. I'll close with a blood from an op ed I wrote just two years ago to the morning call. I want to challenge each of us to expand our conversation in Allentown and in the Lehigh Valley toe one that addresses equitable resource allocation. If our city if our region is to be strong, we need a strong school district in Allentown that cannot happen without the financial ability to provide a quality education for all. Students were at a crossroads with our district. We will continue to work, but we also need our external stakeholders to be aware of and advocate for the needs of our Children. It cannot be the narrative of this city, this region or this district that Allentown students somehow deserved less. It cannot be our narrative that we educate our Children with fewer resource is I implore all, regardless of political affiliation. Toe advocate for the resource is our Children need during this process. Thank you for this opportunity to advocate for my Children here in Allentown and across the Commonwealth. Next, I would like to introduce Secretary of Education Noi or take Thank You, Superintendent partner. And again, thank you for really angry and situating what we're here to talk about today and the realities faced by many of our schools, including Allentown Governor Wolf, representative RAB. Thank you for inviting me. Thio. Come alongside you to address members of the general public about what is just they removed from a historic budget address that it aims to expand investments in teaching and learning across Pennsylvania. Governor Wolf has once again prioritized education in his 2021 budget. The historic investments will strengthen Pennsylvania's public education system. It'll create opportunities for schools in every region of our state and help ensure that our learners air prepared for the path that they take in college, the workforce and in their communities as well. Every school in Pennsylvania is unique. However, all of them deserve to be funded equitably. The fair funding formula was created to do just that. It distributes funds towards schools and an accountable, transparent and predictable manner. This helps level the playing field for students living in Allentown, but also students live in an eerie and everywhere else in between. The fair funding formula doesn't just immensely impact our students at schools. It impacts communities. It impacts the environments that surround them now and far into the future. Investments in education made equitably will benefit us all. My agency cannot take credit for this formula. This was an effort that came out of a bipartisan commission made up of stakeholders from across the state. All of whom agreed that there should be funds in Pennsylvania should be distributed equally. And every student, regardless of zip code, regardless of the color of their skin, deserves high quality education. Cove It has intensely impacted in deep and inequities within Pennsylvania school communities. Now, more than ever, we need to invest in our public education system. The future of our commonwealth depends on the students who are in our classrooms today. Let's give them all a chance to become leaders the leaders they were meant to be before handing the platform back to Governor Wolf. I'd like to close out by once again, reiterates, reiterating the gratitude of the department for the commendable response that our school leaders are learners our communities have done during the pandemic. Each one of you deserves all the credit for helping to ensure the continuity of learning for all our students. And on behalf of the department, I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for that. And with that Governor. Thank you. And I'll hand the platform back to you. Thank you Know I appreciate that. Thank you, Representative Rob. And thank you, Superintendent Parker as well. Uh, appreciate your being willing. Thio be here today. Now opening up the questions. Yes, thank you. Governor will now take questions from reporters. Our first question is from Sam's earn from the pls reporter. Sam, go ahead on you. Good afternoon. Y'all. I have a question for Representative Rab. I know that you post for fair funding legislation in the past, but in the past, there wasn't necessarily this added increased funding, so I can I'm wondering if you could speak to some of the success you've had working with Republicans specifically on passed legislation and what you're looking like going into the future. Especially as they called this dead on arrival. Thank you for the question. Um, the reason this has been a popular bipartisan bill is because this these inequities are born out in urban and rural district alike. In Suburban. There is, uh, one third of all of the 500 school district's, I believe are inequitably funded, but it represents over half of all public school students. So that means that there are a lot of Republicans who represent inequitably funded school district's, and that's why they're on the bill because they want to bring back all the money that their school district's deserve. Why should they get any less than what they need than any other school district? That is the basis of bipartisanship? This should be a nonpartisan issue. Sadly, it's not. But the good news is, there are there is a critical mass. Republicans, Uh, this is not a conservative or progressive thing. This is This is about equity. What I really appreciate about what the governor has done is he is connected. The imperative with full and fair fair is not enough. It is the moral tipping point, but full ensures that we can provide the quality education that all Pennsylvanians deserve. So while I understand the political saber rattling right now around being dead on arrival and that sort of thing. This is what normally happens on the front end of a budget season. And, uh, I am confident that we can get more Republicans, um, to support this effort because it's the right thing to do is the right thing for the Commonwealth is the right thing for their students. And ultimately it's, um, it's a no brainer. It's a no brainer because at the end of the day, the proposal is about our fair share, our fair share of education, our fair share of what we pay into the system. As taxpayers listen, no one loves paying taxes, but I think it's an extension of our patriotic duty. That's how we keep the lights on. That's how we have a vibrant government to do all the things we expected to do, most notably in a pandemic. So, uh, I'm not an optimist by nature, but I do believe in math, and I think the math shows that there is a growing subset of legislators who are open to moving forward because it benefits the Commonwealth and their respective district's thank you. Next we have Alex Gelli from Lancaster Online, Alex, go ahead on mute. Hi. Thank you all for allowing us to ask questions. Um, is similar to the previous question, But many school leaders, including ah, number of those in Lancaster County are excited about the prospect of all basic education funding, uh, flowing through the funny bear funding formula. But you have a tough fight, Gunner Wolf. Um, tough test in the General Assembly. Do you believe you're getting schools false hope at all? Uh, I don't I hope not, but I recognize that this is a fight. But as I've said number a number of times, this is not something that's targeted to just one separate specific group in Pennsylvania. This affect people all over the Commonwealth. Aziz, the representative, rural as well as urban Republican as well as democratic areas. Um, and, you know, the fair funding formula was put into place number of years ago. Actually, when I first became governor, on it was a bipartisan commission that came up with that number. The issue is not whether we have a fair Funny we have a fair funding formula. Theis, you is that for the six years I've been here, we haven't funded it. The new money going out has gone out according to the fair funding formula. That that right now means that what that 11% of school funding goes out according to that formula. And one of the concerns was, How much will it cost us to actually get to the point where we can hold harmless those school district so that the No. One takes a hit, that we don't make any student or any teacher, any educator take a step backward from from a point of view of funding and this proposal does that on It even adds $200 million to that, and it recognizes that government should not do a whole lot of things. But one of the things that should do is make sure that that it educates its fellow citizens on. That's what we're trying to do here. Uh uh, years ago, Republican Legislature launched a commission to study how much public education really ought to cost, and we found that we weren't spending enough on public education in Pennsylvania. This'll takes us to the point where we're getting pretty close to doing doing that, and this is an investment that we're making for the future. For all. It's not just for those kids, not just for those schools that they're suffering, but for everybody in Pennsylvania, because we all benefit when one of our fellow citizens, because of the education they received here, comes up with a cure for a disease that affect someone in our family or a killer app or a new product or service creates jobs, does great things in our commonwealth. We're not going to get there if we don't invest in the things that allow us to get there. And education is central to that. Thank you. Next we have Michael Gorse, inner from CBS 21. Michael, Go ahead and a mute Good afternoon, governor. A lot of people are worried about the timing of the increased their funding and education. Obviously, during a pandemic, just a quick look at the budget education funding would go up about 13% while the Department of Health is seeing about a 7% rise in funding. Is there a worry that there's not enough funding going towards the Department of Health to try and combat the pandemic? And at the same time, how will the state deal with financial deficits from continue a battle against Kuvin. Okay, first of all, I think investing in something like education during a crisis, for whatever reason, is probably the best time Thio think about how you investment that that's a That's an important investment anytime. But especially in a crisis, um, the differential between the increase for the Department of Education educate our schools and the Depar