Board Member Fix-Lopez Asks Community to Support Gov. Wolf’s Education Budget

At the Board’s Action Meeting on May 26th, Board Member Mallory Fix-Lopez asked our school communities to support  Governor Wolf’s proposed education budget for K-12 schools. The proposal includes significant funding increases for Basic Education, Special Education, and the Level Up initiative as well as charter school funding reforms to align payments with costs.

This $1.8 billion budget proposal would provide the School District of Philadelphia with $410 million in new funding plus an additional $145 million in charter savings.

Ms. Fix-Lopez noted that last month, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania collected $6.5 billion in revenue – the largest one month revenue collection in the history of the state. And, this $6.5 billion is $1.8 billion more than the state expected to collect in April.

“The state is currently sitting on its largest surplus ever, and it has more than enough to make the Governor’s budget proposal a reality,” Ms. Fix-Lopez said. She added that next month, the Governor and the General Assembly will finalize the 2022-2023 state budget. “Let’s make sure that final agreement includes an additional $1.8 billion for schools,” Ms. Fix-Lopez added.

She asked the Philadelphia community to spend 15 minutes each week – until a state budget is passed – calling their state representative, state senator, and the Governor to urge them to pass the Governor’s education budget proposal.

“This education funding is a critical step toward realizing adequate and equitable education funding in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Ms. Fix-Lopez said, “And providing students in Philadelphia with the type of education they deserve.”