Aesop told of a dishonest stable boy charged with tending a horse. Although the boy spent entire workdays grooming the horse, he would steal half the horse’s oats to sell for his own profit. The horse, naturally, resented the treatment. “If you really want me to look sleek,” the undernourished horse protested, “you should groom me less and feed me more.”
On November 10, 2014, a coalition of schools, parents, and activists sued Pennsylvania state officials in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, alleging that the state has failed its constitutional duty to provide thorough and efficient public education. The plaintiffs, represented by the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and the Education Law Center, argue that just as Aesop’s stable boy groomed the horse to look fit without providing enough nourishment for true fitness, the state has set academic standards for students and schools without providing enough resources to meet those standards. The adequacy of Pennsylvania’s school funding system was a central issue in this year’s gubernatorial election.
The lawsuit’s challenge is similar to one heard by the Commonwealth Court fifteen years ago in Marrero v. Commonwealth, where the court rejected the plaintiff’s claim that the state failed to adequately fund the School District of Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the Commonwealth Court’s decision, agreeing that the state’s school funding system was constitutionally adequate because it reasonably related to maintaining thorough and efficient public schools. Both courts noted that the adequacy of education and educational funding “are matters exclusively within the purview of the General Assembly’s powers,” and not subject to judicial intervention.
While Marrero confirmed Pennsylvania courts’ reluctance to interfere in the legislature’s school funding scheme, developments since Marrero suggest that the present suit may come out differently. While there were no statewide academic standards in place at the time Marrero was decided, the state adopted such standards shortly thereafter and currently uses those standards to evaluate students and schools. In 2008, the General Assembly enacted a funding formula based on a study it commissioned to determine the cost of implementing the new standards. The 2008 formula distributed basic education funding according to need-based factors such as the number of students in poverty, number of English language learners, and total value of taxable property in each district. This formula, however, was abandoned during the Corbett administration amidst budgetary concerns arising from the Recession. Since then, funding increases have been allocated on an unpredictable ad hoc basis each budget cycle. As a result, the funding disparity between districts in economically struggling areas and those in prosperous areas has widened as districts are forced to increasingly rely on local tax revenue.
Pointing to these developments, the plaintiffs in the present case argue that the current system falls short of the Marrero standard. Specifically, the plaintiffs seek a judgment directing the legislature to implement a new funding system that will provide schools with sufficient resources to meet the state’s academic standards without discriminating against students in poor districts. The plaintiffs are not alone in this position. Organizations as diverse as the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania State Education Association, and fiscally-conservative Commonwealth Foundation agree that Pennsylvania needs a new, fair formula for school funding. In fact, the General Assembly has already created a commission to craft a new formula. The commission is currently holding hearings around the state and gathering information to develop a new formula.
While the plaintiffs’ arguments may not overcome the courts’ reluctance to intervene in school funding matters, the plaintiffs are very likely to achieve their policy goals indirectly. The lawsuit will likely drive public discourse over school funding in the coming months as the General Assembly’s commission researches and drafts a new formula. Additionally, the lawsuit could serve as leverage for incoming Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, who campaigned on significantly increasing school funding, to persuade the Republican-controlled legislature to follow his education agenda. Whether or not the lawsuit prevails in court, the General Assembly should shift from “grooming” Pennsylvania’s undernourished schools with unfunded mandates toward “feeding” schools through adequate and equitable funding for basic education.
Posted November 16, 2014