Legislators in Harrisburg should feel moral obligations to equitably fund our schools.

The governor’s proposal for increased public education spending is the solution to decades-long inequities in the funding formula that resulted in a Commonwealth court ruling that the public education funding system in Pennsylvania is unconstitutional. It is the legislature’s job to fully and fairly fund our schools.

A bipartisan commission has developed a solution, and it is Sen. Brown’s turn to support it. Brown’s schools face some of the largest funding inequities in the state; a party-line vote would mean sacrificing nearly $50 million for her district’s schools in the first year alone. Without this funding, a tax increase is not just possible, but probable; the Pocono Mountain School District has already discussed this possibility.

If cyber charters can afford to spend millions on advertising and IKEA/Target gift cards, and other incentives, they can afford to give some of that money back to the 90% of students in Pennsylvania who still attend brick and mortar public schools.

Most seem to agree kids learn in various ways and the needs of students continue to change and grow, especially post-pandemic, but every time our tax dollars are diverted away from the public school system, it diminishes the school’s ability to provide diverse and accessible learning opportunities. We already have choice built into the public school system.

We have award winning arts and science courses, state of the art athletic fields, and a competitive career and technical school, but we need more funding, because there are still students that are not receiving the education they are guaranteed, per the Pennsylvania Constitution, which results in dozens of lawsuits in Brown’s schools each year.

It is Brown’s job, and our future. We are counting on Brown to support the Governor’s proposal.

Margaret A. Hartmann

Stroudsburg