Plymouth Meeting, PA – Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the more than 36,000 members of the Commonwealth’s statewide affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers on Friday on the FY 2024-2025 state budget signed into law last night:
“The Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget contains significant wins for long-underinvested public-school districts as well as for taxpayers. I’m particularly proud that our members, in coalition with public education supporters across the Commonwealth, blocked an expensive, unaccountable new private-school voucher program backed by Republicans and wealthy pro-privatization donors.
“Fealty to one specific donor, Jeffrey Yass--a potential Trump cabinet appointee--is clear in the elimination of the cap an individual can receive in tax credits from EITC. While the public price tax of private school tax credits continues to balloon – thanks primarily to Senate Republicans – this year’s increase in EITC/OSTC funding is far less obscene than originally proposed. That’s a victory our members and allies can take pride in.
“That said, the failure to fully honor last year’s landmark court decision on public education funding is totally unacceptable and the direct result of Republican control of the Senate. The lack of a multi-year plan toward adequacy for the most disinvested public-school districts ensures yearly budget standoffs, with our most vulnerable kids caught in the crosshairs. Lawyers and lobbyists win – as is the status quo in Harrisburg – while working families and K-12 students lose.
“And the use of year-to-year discretionary funds rather than the Basic Education Funding formula flies in the face of the court’s, the Basic Education Funding Commission’s, and the House Democrats’ plans for multi-year, sustainable funding to close the adequacy gap.
“I am also shocked and alarmed by the lack of adequate funding for several large school districts, namely Pittsburgh public schools. AFT PA is in close contact with the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers; we will be there as always to support our members and the students who rely on them.
“Finally, after months of discussions about the future of higher education in our Commonwealth, the continued lack of investment in our community colleges, public universities, and state-related institutions fails to address issues of attracting and retaining faculty and staff, as well as workforce development. We sincerely hope that there is more to be seen on this front.”
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