Panther Valley Superintendent David McAndrew Jr. is asking local lawmakers to support a bill that would ensure schools across the state have the funding they need to succeed.

McAndrew, who continues to advocate for fair funding for Pennsylvania’s poorest school districts, was in Harrisburg this week when the state House Education Committee passed House Bill 2370.

“Now, it will move to the floor of the House,” he told Panther Valley School Board members Wednesday night. “Hopefully, it will pass.”

The legislation follows the Basic Education Funding Commission’s recommendation, which would provide school districts $5.1 billion in funding through annual increases of $728 million in state funding each year for seven years.

The legislation also includes $1 billion in funding for communities faced with the highest local property taxes due to state funding, according to a release from Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center.

For the Panther Valley School District, the legislation, if passed, would mean $17.7 million worth of adequacy funding over seven years and another $3,954,716 in funds to provide relief to taxpayers.

“This not only affects the fair funding, there is also a caveat in there for cyber school reform, which is something that we’ve talked about quite a bit,” McAndrew said.

The district would also see $1,928,059 in cyber charter savings.

“What I’m asking is Rep. (Jamie) Barton and Rep. (Doyle) Heffley to approve that next week when it does come to the floor,” McAndrew said.

“I think it’s a great piece of legislation and I hope it passes out of the House and into the Senate.” he said.

Other districts in the region would also benefit from the legislation in the form of tax relief, adequacy funding, cyber charter savings or all three, including: Jim Thorpe Area, Lehighton Area, Palmerton Area, Weatherly Area, Tamaqua Area, Shenandoah Valley, Northern Lehigh and Pleasant Valley.