Jun. 1—UNION TOWNSHIP — Sen. Lisa Baker this week said the difficulties facing small and rural school districts have been building and compounding for many years.
“While the new education funding formula is a major advance overall, there are more than a few districts where the benefits have been limited,” said Baker, R-Lehman Township. “Our schools appreciated the opportunity to give state officials a closer look at the challenges and discuss additional reforms needed to provide an acceptable level of quality education and boost student performance. Our communities depend on strong public schools as contributors to ensuring economic growth in the years to come.”
Baker and Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Northumberland, welcomed acting Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe to Northwest Area School District this week for a productive roundtable discussion focused on the unique challenges and funding needs of rural schools in Pennsylvania.
The event brought together superintendents, school board members, teachers and other education stakeholders to discuss how the state can better support rural school districts through more equitable funding models, workforce support, shared services and the concerns of cyber charter schools’ effect on local schools.
Participants also took part in a tour of the Northwest Area campus, highlighting facility needs and creative resource strategies.
Culver, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, called the event an important opportunity to bring Harrisburg closer to the realities rural educators face every day.
“Our rural schools are often at the heart of the community — they’re not just places of learning, they’re gathering spaces, employers and a source of local pride,” Culver said. “Today’s discussion gave school leaders the chance to speak directly with the Department of Education and with legislators about what’s working, what isn’t and how we can ensure that students in every part of the commonwealth have access to a high-quality education.”
Topics discussed included long-standing concerns about basic education funding, the rising cost of special education and transportation and teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas.
In May, Baker and Culver sent a letter to Rowe outlining the challenges rural districts face due to inequitable funding distribution which limits their ability to recruit personnel, invest in technology and enhance curriculum to meet student performance standards.
In response to growing concerns from rural school officials and taxpayers regarding inadequate funding increases in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget, Baker and Culver called for urgent action to address disparities in education funding across Pennsylvania’s rural communities.
“The reality is that many rural districts struggle to keep up as larger, well-funded schools attract veteran educators and invest heavily in resources,” Baker said. “We must ensure that students in small communities have the same opportunities for success as those in urban and suburban districts. Now is the time for real, actionable change.”
The senators highlighted concerns regarding cyber charter school costs, demographic shifts and economic challenges as additional burdens affecting rural districts.
The senators are urging their colleagues in the legislature, the governor and his administration and stakeholders to work together to prioritize fair funding solutions that will provide immediate relief and long-term sustainability for struggling schools.
“For too long, the focus has been on failing schools needing more money,” Culver said. “We want to shine a light on our rural schools that provide a quality education but are struggling to balance their budgets and maintain the level of service and academic achievement their students and taxpayers have come to expect — all because of a funding formula that has left some schools at a disadvantage.”
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.