House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

 

Pennsylvania schools and our students’ education have long been held hostage to yearly budget negotiations on school funding that make capital projects challenging to budget for.  Moreover, the financial and capital costs that our schools face are not fully known – and this issue has only gotten worse as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to ensure that future budget discussions take into account the actual capital needs of our schools, we must first understand what those financial requirements are so we can provide for them. 
 
Our legislation would set up a one-time survey for school districts to report their deferred, current, and anticipated capital needs. It would then require the Department of Education to compile the information and report the total capital and infrastructure requirements of schools to the General Assembly. That report would break down the capital needs by those which school districts have already paid for and those which are predicted through the 2025-2026 school year.
 
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 disruption, our schools have found themselves taking on new responsibilities, unexpected costs, and preparing for a new way of educating students. This has affected every teacher, every student, and every parent in our state. As we move forward to support our schools and students, is important to have the best possible information on the state of our schools to make policies affecting them.
 
Please join us in supporting our schools by co-sponsoring this important legislation.