Please send this important message to your lawmakers in support of fair funding for all students. It takes two minutes.

Students from across Pennsylvania continue to miss out on the opportunity to receive an education that prepares them to successfully compete in the world beyond high school. In the last six years, academic and extracurricular programs have been slashed, classroom sizes have ballooned, and the number of teachers and support staff have been greatly reduced.

Continued underfunding and inequitable distribution of state education dollars will drive business investment and talent away from Pennsylvania, so it’s time to fix the problem and reverse the damage. Keep in mind: 

· PA has the largest funding gap between wealthy and poor schools of any state in the country!

· Schools are excessively dependent on local wealth for funding. In fact, PA’s contribution to education funding is only 36%, among the lowest in the U.S.

· Local revenues count for 56% of school funding in PA, which contributes to the extreme inequities and tax burdens for the middle class and poor. 

The state’s school funding crisis is not over even though the 2015-16 budget has become law. The state needs to do more than provide just enough funding to keep the doors open, lights on and allow students to complete the academic year. 

Pennsylvania must fairly direct sufficient resources so that all students – no matter where they live – can succeed in school and meet the state’s academic standards. 

If the state continues to limit funding increases to the level approved in this year’s budget, infants in their cribs today will have graduated from high school by the time Pennsylvania achieves a fully-funded and fair public school funding system! 

Please work together to permanently adopt the fair school funding formula recommended by the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC), pass an on-time budget for 2016-17 that increases funding for public schools by at least $400 million, and find the revenues needed to support investments in Pennsylvania’s students that will pay dividends for all Pennsylvanians in the years to come.

Save the Date:  Rally for Fair Education Funding

On Monday, May 2 the Campaign for Fair Education Funding along with parents, students, teachers, and school and community leaders from across the state will rally for fair education funding at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

WHO:  The Campaign for Fair Education Funding
WHAT:  Rally for Fair Education Funding
WHERE:  The state Capitol, Harrisburg
WHEN:  Monday, May 2 (12:30 p.m. press conference in the Main Rotunda)
WHY:  There is no more pressing issue facing lawmakers than fixing Pennsylvania’s broken public school funding system

Want to join us? Fill out this form and someone from the Campaign will be in touch with you!

Please Share

Here is the Campaign’s most recent infographic. Please share and don’t forget to use the Campaign’s hashtag for every tweet and retweet: #FairFundingPA