Dear Activists:
Yesterday was a striking day in the history of our fight for full and fair funding of education. Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer ruled in the education funding lawsuit that the inequitable funding of schools in Pennsylvania violates the Pennsylvania constitution.
Now it is time for Governor Shapiro and the General Assembly to act and meet the standard Judge Jubelirer has set.
Can you us this on-line tool to ask them to do so?
The dry language of law and statistics in Judge Jubelirer’s long opinion fully embraces the moral and constitutional imperative that “every student receives a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education.”
Judge Jubelirer’s decision is only the beginning of a renewed fight for fair funding of education. She has set the target. But Governor Shapiro and the General Assembly must take action to reach it. PBPC / WTP are part of the Pennsylvania Schools Work campaign, which is calling for $4 billion in new funding of K-12 education over the next four years while also investing more in special education, career and technical education, and rebuilding / repairing dilapidated and unsafe school facilities.
This important judicial decision mandates that Governor Shapiro and the General Assembly devise a plan together to overcome the deep inequity in school funding that has not only harmed generation after generation of young people in our commonwealth but has robbed all of us of the full flowering of the talents and abilities of young people who have received an inadequate education.
While we look back with sadness at those generations of students who were left behind, Judge Jubelirer’s decision enables us to look forward to a new era in which our state constitution’s promise of educational equality is finally made a reality. It’s time for the General Assembly to join Governor Shapiro in meeting the moral and constitutional requirement of fair funding for our schools.
Thank you for your support!
Marc, Vivienne, Jay and the We The People Team
We The People – PA is a campaign working to ensure that all Pennsylvanians can thrive. We advocate for bold action from state lawmakers to keep our families safe during today’s emergency—and to build a stronger, healthier, and more just future.
