FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, February 7, 2023
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
AFT PENNSYLVANIA STATEMENT ON HISTORIC LEGAL VICTORY FOR PENNSYLVANIA STUDENTS
Plymouth Meeting, PA– Following a Commonwealth Court ruling on Tuesday that found Pennsylvania’s public school funding system unconstitutional, Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the more than 36,000 educators, paraprofessionals, school staff, higher education faculty, and state workers represented by AFT Pennsylvania.
“Today is an historic victory for Pennsylvania’s students, families, and its communities. The ruling by the Commonwealth Court affirms what we have known to be true for decades: Pennsylvania’s system of public education does not meet the constitutional standard of ‘thorough and efficient.’ We have also known that all children are able to learn if provided the resources to thrive. But, for too long, we have had two separate education systems: one for wealthy districts and one for underprivileged districts.
“It continues to defy belief that students and school districts had to sue their own state government to get relief from unfairly and inadequately funded schools, but congratulations to the brave plaintiffs and their attorneys, especially at the Public Interest Law Center and Education Law Center, who have been fighting this battle for years. We are proud to have supported this lawsuit with an amicus brief of our own, because educators know that the funding for Pennsylvania’s schools has been unfair.
“Now that Pennsylvania’s school funding scheme has been found unconstitutional, it’s time for the Legislature and the Executive Branch to join us in fulfilling our Commonwealth’s Constitutional promise to our students, our families, and to our communities, regardless of their means.”
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