On July 8, Upper Darby High School was packed with legislators, reporters, school officials, teachers, students and education advocates. All were in attendance to witness history being made as Governor Rendell signed Pennsylvania's new school funding formula in to law. And Janis Risch, our executive director, had the honor of introducing the governor as he ushered in a new era of reform and success for students, schools and communities.

 

While the bill signing was cause for celebration, it doesn't signal an end to our work. Rather, with the new formula comes new expectations. Along with the the mandate in the bill that funding is targeted to the districts and classrooms that need it most and the $274 million in additional funding to do so, the legislation also includes accountability measures that ensure that funding is spent by school districts in ways that have the greatest impact on student achievement.

 

The Education Law Center has prepared a brief on the new accountability measures to help us understand the new law and ways that communities and advocates can have a voice in how their school districts invest the new funding. As we begin gearing up to take our advocacy efforts to the next level by ensuring that new investments in public education contribute to student success, we want to hear from you -- parents, teachers, students, community leaders. What does your local school district need to successfully educate every student? Contact us to learn how you can get involved in monitoring and influencing your school district's accountability plan.

More than 100 leaders from Southeastern Pennsylvania's first suburbs gathered in Upper Darby on July 30 to meet with Sen. Ted Erickson and Reps. Nick Micozzie and Mario Civera. The purpose? To secure their legislators' commitments to championing legislation to enact a long-term school funding formula in Pennsylvania.

 

The legislative meeting came on the heels of the May 31 issues convention, where, by a vote of three-to-one, community leaders identified Pennsylvania's broken and ineffective system of funding public education as the primary culprit for the weakening of their communities. With the July 4 passage of a new funding formula for 2008-09, leaders from the First Suburbs Project wanted to acknowledge the work of the legislature in addressing the school funding crisis, and to begin implementing next steps for ensuring that the progress made this year is sustained. ... MORE

During the past year, some of the strongest advocacy efforts calling for education finance reform have come from some of the youngest voices. Those voices include students from the Sto-Rox School District. The students helped to pioneer our Saving Whoville program, wrote letters to and visited with their legislators, and participated in our photo project, our student documentary, and our Eyes on Education advocacy day in Harrisburg.

 

At Good Schools Pennsylvania, we said that their voices and efforts were invaluable to helping us achieve our goal of securing a sound school funding formula. Someone else agreed. Recently, those Sto-Rox students received a prestigious Proclamation of Recognition from Pennsylvania's Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll. ... MORE

Join PTA members, school board officials and education advocates for the PTA's annual boot camp, where, in addition to taking courses in the basics of becoming a PTA officer, writing or updating bylaws, recruiting members, and reviewing legislation, you will have the opportunity to hear a presentation by our western Pennsylvania field organizer, Aimee LeFevers. ... MORE  

September 28 -- Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project legislative forum

Our website is updated frequently with news, opportunities and links to keep you informed about our work to change public education funding in Pennsylvania. Be sure to add the Good Schools Pennsylvania homepage to your favorites and check back often.

 

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Good Schools Pennsylvania is a statewide network of citizens who are informed and mobilized in support of public education. We believe that we can improve our schools when we join together in calling for adequate funds that are equitably distributed, proven educational practices to meet a standard of excellence, and effective accountability measures. Visit our website.