HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Central Dauphin Middle School Band greeted Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro with music on Tuesday morning, as the governor touted the state’s new investment in education.
"For the first time ever, based on that law right there that I’m going to sign, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is going to invest $11 billion in schools," Shapiro said.
Shapiro put pen to paper in a ceremonial signing on Tuesday, but the legislation is already in motion.
The state budget- passed in July- will give schools more than $1 billion in additional education funding.
As a new school year begins, Shapiro hopes the dollars translate to degrees.
"We’re going to continue to make sure as time goes on that student data is proving a success, but we’ve got to understand that that data is going to take time to catch up with the investments," he said.
As part of the state’s investment, Central Dauphin School District will receive more than $9 million, money Superintendent Eric Turman said could be used to create new programs.
"One priority I know with the district, myself, our school board members and the community has been how do we offer full-day kindergarten?" Turman said. "It’s going to afford us the opportunity to have a discussion in terms of what potentially that could look like for the district."
Turman said some of the funding will help the district serve a growing population of students learning English as a second language and address facility needs.
"We have identified areas where we are all in agreement that we know we have to address," he said. "We’re going to really look at how those dollars can be used to address some of those needs."