After 18 months of work - including discussions with hundreds of suburban leaders, legislative meetings and issues conventions - members of the Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project are ready to go public with their agenda for regional change. On Sunday, September 28, these suburban leaders and their elected officials will gather in Norristown for a public forum to roll out a plan to affect education finance, infrastructure and housing policies, all issues that affect the region's ability to compete and prosper.

 

If you want to be part of the First Suburbs Project's movement to reshape the landscape of southeastern Pennsylvania, then be sure to mark your calendar now and attend the public forum on Sunday, September 28. We need a broad and diverse constituency present to show our elected officials that we are committed to revitalizing our communities and are supportive of the education finance, housing and infrastructure policies that will do so. Visit the First Suburbs Project's new website to pre-register and to learn more about the issues.

Recent collaborative efforts like YorkCounts, Sustainable Pittsburgh and the First Suburbs Project validate the notion that communities must work together to address the issues that challenge their competitiveness. One of the most pressing challenges, of course, is the way public education is financed and the inequities the system perpetuates in our communities. Here are two interesting reads - from two non-traditional sources - that help to make the case that the quest for a sound system of financing public education is a wide-spread issue and one which cuts across sectors, municipalities, regions and even states.

 

The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia recently hosted business, civic, non-profit and other leaders from around the region in an exercise to examine the assets and challenges that exist in southeastern Pennsylvania's older, developed communities. The regional exploration committee studied the borough of Norristown, which because of its infrastructure, demographic trends and proximity to Philadelphia, closely resembles many other communities in the region. The committee found that these suburbs possess many valuable assets: An affordable cost-of-living, deep cultural roots, access to transportation, and properties primed for redevelopment. However, the group also uncovered several challenges to rejuvenating the region's older communities, including the fact that an inadequately educated workforce and poor public schools discourage new investment and hinder revitalization efforts. Read the full report of the Economy League's regional exploration session on its website.

 

On the first day of school two weeks ago in Chicago, one thing was conspicuously absent...the students. Hundreds of students in the city's school district protested the disparities in education funding between their urban school district and their wealthier, suburban neighboring districts by attempting to enroll in one of those suburban schools. While the students were denied enrollment, the protest brought to light the persistent inequities that are perpetuated in the way Illinois - much like Pennsylvania - funds public education. It also serves as a reminder that we can all take pride in the leadership Pennsylvania has shown in advancing school funding reform. Nationally, Pennsylvania is gaining recognition for its success in pursuing a costing-out study and implementing a new school funding formula that begins to address educational equities - all without the need for a lawsuit. Click here to read an account of the protest in Chicago by the organization Common Dreams, and here for an article by ABC News. 

Good Schools Pennsylvania is working in communities throughout the state to inform citizens about the state's system of funding our public schools and to work with you at the local level to learn more about what your school district needs to be successful. Here are some upcoming opportunities for you to get involved.

 

Staff from our central Pennsylvania office will be on hand in Berks, Dauphin, Cumberland and Lancaster counties to discuss the implications of the state budget and the new school funding formula. For more information or to schedule a presentation or meeting, contact the central Pennsylvania office.

 

Be sure to join us at the First Suburbs Project's public forum on Sunday, September 28. We need a strong base of education advocates in the audience to show our legislators and other community leaders that they have support to continue the great strides they made by implementing Pennsylvania's first school funding formula in two decades. For more information, visit the First Suburbs Project's website.

 

The communities of McKeesport, Sto-Rox, Erie, Mt. Lebanon and Beaver, among others, will be the sight of an extreme makeover. No, it's not the television show that gives a deserving family a second chance with a new house, it's an extreme makeover to Pennsylvania's school funding formula! Join us as we go on the road to help citizens learn more about what the new formula means for your student, school and community. Contact the western Pennsylvania office for more information.

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.

 

If you're not on our mailing list, be sure to click the Join Our Mailing List! button in the top left column of this E-Update to receive all of our organization's communications.

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.