Pittsburgh Review

On August 8, Gov. Wolf met with students, educators and elected officials at the Erie School District in celebration of the $3.7 billion investment in public education the Wolf Administration has made over the past eight years.

According to a press release by Wolf, this year’s approved budget has a record $1.8 billion in education investments. He spoke at the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, where he said that funding public education has been a priority since he took office in 2015.

“I promised the people of Pennsylvania that I would make education and the future of our children a priority again for the commonwealth. And I have fought every day to do just that,” Wolf said. “This year’s budget includes a massive investment in our kids, our schools and our future. It’s also an investment that could free up local communities to reduce property taxes.”

This year’s budget included $525 million increase through the Fair Funding Formula; $225 million increase for the Level Up program; $100 million increase for Special Education; $79 million increase for early education through Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs; $220 million for public higher education; and $850 million in recurring funding that allows for schools to invest in student learning and also cut local property taxes.

One notable aspect is the Level Up program. It was first funded in last year’s budget with $100 million equity supplement to help the 100 most underfunded schools across the commonwealth. This year’s budget is a $125 million increase from that.

“Governor Wolf’s commitment to Level Up funding is powerful recognition that inequity among Pennsylvania school districts must be addressed,” said Kate Philips, Level Up Coalition spokesperson. “This funding, which slowly begins to level the playing field, temporarily eases the burden that superintendents, school boards, and educators – and students – in rural, urban, and suburban school districts are faced with every day due to chronic funding disparities.”

The Wolf Administration has worked hard to help the state’s public education. This includes the investment of $1.9 billion in education from pre-K through college which included the largest single year education funding increase in state history last year; investing $116 million in science, computer science and technical education; modernize standards for science education; and establish the Public School Fair Funding formula. He has also invested about $130 million in School Safety Grants; reduced the age of when students must start to six and raised the dropout age to 18; and launched the first ever “It’s On Us PA” campus sexual assault prevention program.