A civil trial over whether Pennsylvania’s state government does enough to fund public K-12 education is now in an appeals court judge’s hands.

Six school districts, including Panther Valley, sued state lawmakers in 2014. The lawsuit argued that the governor, along with the leaders of the Senate and House, have violated the state constitution by underfunding public schools.

“That promise, as we’ve shown in court and as we can see in these districts, has been broken. It’s clear that in Pennsylvania, the students who need the most get the least, because of where they live,” said Katrina Robson, one of the attorneys representing the school districts.

The lawmakers argue that the funding system is adequate. Lawyers for the Wolf Administration said it has made school funding a priority, but acknowledged that financially struggling districts do not perform as well as wealthier ones.

The school districts who brought the case were Greater Johnstown, Lancaster, Panther Valley, Shenandoah, Wilkes-Barre and William Penn. They all have low test scores. They also have deteriorating school buildings which they cannot afford to fix.

The districts’ lawyers argue that they demonstrate how the system of education is not ‘thorough and efficient,’ as the education clause of the constitution states. School districts get the majority of their funding from local property taxes. In 44 other states, the state government provides a larger share of the education funding pie.

‘Needs unmet’

Robson recounted the experiences of the six districts who brought the case as evidence of an unequal system.

She recalled the testimony of Superintendent David McAndrew Jr., who said bluntly ‘we’re broke.”

The district has a bathroom with one toilet and two urinals for 75 kindergartners. Only four guidance counselors serve its 1,700 students. The elementary school roof has been leaking for 12 years, and its courtyard has to be pumped during every rainstorm to prevent flooding in the school.

Robson said that the district had to use its pandemic funds to cover everyday expenses despite warnings from the state not to do so. She recalled McAndrew’s words about using the funds to purchase chromebooks, something that most other districts could already afford: “We shouldn’t have had to rely on a pandemic for our kids to have that opportunity.”

Like Panther Valley, each of the districts suffer from financial difficulties which prevent them from providing the same funding as richer school districts.

“Without adequate funding, those lower wealth schools are being required to leave student needs unmet,” Robson said.

Robson said that Greater Johnstown has a school with one toilet for over 100 students. William Penn is nearly bankrupt, and only 11.5 percent of its sixth graders scored ‘proficient’ on the math keystones. Lancaster has over 600 unhoused students. Shenandoah Valley had to sacrifice its lone elementary reading specialist in order to keep its kindergarten class sizes under 30. Wilkes-Barre had to furlough staff so it could afford to replace its crumbling buildings. It left them with one guidance counselor for 100 middle school students.

“Under Pennsylvania’s funding system, the best any underprivileged community has to offer, can’t make up for the inadequacies of the system as a whole,” she said.

Low-wealth districts also tend to have a higher number of students who need learning support and special education. But compared to wealthier districts, Robson said, they have less money to provide it.

The lack of resources has a direct effect on the success of students, Robson said. The six school districts in the trial are among the worst in the state when it comes to graduation, with graduation rates between 70-80 percent.

And statewide, 80 percent of students who are low-income, black, or Latino do not go onto get a college degree after they leave high school.

‘Run of the mill’

Representing senate president Jake Corman, attorney Tom DeCesar said the legislature more than meets its constitutional requirements for education funding. The state ranks in the Top 10 when it comes to per-pupil spending.

DeCesar said that the six school districts don’t paint an accurate picture of the state’s system of education because they make up a small portion of school district statewide. And the system includes institutions beyond local school districts, such as charter schools, career and technical institutes, and intermediate units.

“Despite the variety of school districts and other educational opportunities available in Pennsylvania, we only heard testimony about a small handful of school districts and very little about anything else,” DeCesar said.

Even if the six districts were an accurate representation of the entire state, he said, they still meet the requirements.

He said there is evidence that the six districts are doing a good job reaching students, He said the Pa. Value-Added Assessment System does a better job assessing schools than Keystones and PSSAs, because it which looks at how students have improved from year to year.

DeCesar said that

Attorney Patrick Northern, representing House Speaker Bryan Cutler, said that the districts painted a more bleak picture of their situation than they do outside the courtroom.

DeCesar used Panther Valley Elementary as an example of how the districts’ facilities are in acceptable condition. He showed a video taken inside the school as evidence, saying it differed from the district’s claims of inadequate facilities.

“Panther Valley is not a school from a dystopian world, it is a standard, run of the mill elementary school,” he said.

DeCesar said that before suing for additional funding, the districts can look at areas where they can cut costs. He again pointed to Panther Valley,

The attorney for the Wolf Administration and Pa. Department of Education, who are also being sued in the case, said there is inequality between poor and wealthy school districts.

Attorney Sophia Lee said that education has been the administration’s priority, but the court must decide whether the legislature has done enough to meet the constitutional mandate. She said that the Wolf Administration has overseen a historic investment in schools.

She said that with the appropriate resources, students who are raised in poverty can achieve the same level of success as students in wealthier districts.

“Our school districts have to meet students as they are when they arrive at the doorsteps of our schools,” she said.