LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — In Lancaster County, teachers, district officials, faith leaders, and community members rallied in support of fully implementing the fair funding formula ahead of the 2021-2022 budget vote.
They gathered outside Senator Scott Martin's office in Strasburg. The Lancaster County lawmaker proposed a charter school reform bill earlier this year.
Gov. Wolf has touted the fair funding formula.
“School funding in Pennsylvania is still based on enrollment from 30 years ago and hasn’t been updated in a generation,” said Gov. Wolf. “This unfair school funding system is failing students, teachers, and communities, and that’s unacceptable. We need to fix the mistakes of the past and make a comprehensive investment in education funding that actually works.”
If it is fully implemented, the School District of Lancaster or SDoL could receive an extra $19 million annually. According to superintendent Dr. Damaris Rau, SDoL houses 20 majority Black and Brown public schools, which research has shown get less per-student funding than their white-majority counterparts.
People who rallied say the fair funding formula plan assures that all school funding passes through a fair funding formula to close these gaps. With the $3 billion state budget surplus and the $7 billion federal aid, they say 100% fair funding can pass in this budget without raising a single tax dollar.
"I want everyone to prosper, but I want the people who are most disadvantaged to have a fair start at the game of life," said one church leader.
"It was wonderful to see our girls be a part of this. This is their future and the future after them," said Jennifer Weitzel of Ephrata who attended the rally with her husband and three daughters.
"They're protesting someone who absolutely supports all the money going through the fair funding formula," said Sen. Scott Martin.
During the rally, Sen. Martin said he had to be in Harrisburg for session. FOX43 spoke with the lawmaker via Zoom. Sen. Martin says what he doesn't support is the more than $1 billion increase for basic education funding proposed by Governor Wolf and his support of what is known as 'hold harmless.'
"It's basically the overpayment to schools who have lost population or lost enrollment over the years. In order to have the 1.5 billion, he [Gov. Wolf] also proposed a 46% increase in personal income tax, and that personal income tax is not just on individuals. It goes over a million small mom and pop businesses that file under the same mechanism," explained Sen. Martin.
Last year, only 11%, or about $700 million, of state funding ran through the fair funding formula. Supporters say the remaining 89% or $5.5 billion, was disbursed using enrollment data from 30 years ago. They say that leads some districts to make difficult decisions based on the funding they say they don't have.
"We often have to triage: Do I spent money on buses or after school programs? It is not fair that our kids have to have those choices," said Dr. Damaris Rau, the superintendent for SDoL. "I took this job partly because I identified with these kids. I was a poor kid. Sometimes, we just had rice for dinner. It was by the grace of God, I made it out."
Dr. Rau told FOX43 she feels responsible for every child within SDoL. If the fair funding formula is fully implemented, Dr. Rau told FOX43 SDoL would make class sizes smaller for kindergarten and first grade. She wants to decrease the number of students from 25 to 19 or 20 in an effort to give those students more individual attention from teachers.
The rally was part of a statewide movement to draw support of the fair funding model. Other events were held in Allentown, Pottstown, and Philadelphia.