Failing the Future

Is the way Pennsylvania funds public education the reason some students are left behind?

"I wish my school had..."

About this project: In Pennsylvania, a state with 500 school districts, the funding crisis of public education is not a breaking news story. It's been the reality for years. Students study in decaying buildings, can only dream about art classes and fight the stigma of being from "that school." The crisis of funding public education is imminent as the court is set to look into how Pennsylvania funds public education and if it violates the State Constitution. In this series, we explore deepening inequities across school districts and ask:
Will the school funding crisis in Pa. ever be solved?

Stories

As PA’s education funding lawsuit waits for 2020 hearing, here’s how similar lawsuits nationally have fared.

Eli Kosanovich, a senior at Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School laughs and chats with other students before the start of a physics class on Dec. 5, 2018. (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

Without additional funding or will to merge, some Southwestern PA school districts try sharing resources to offer students more opportunities

Duquesne Elementary School students Raniyah Hall, Amya Gates and Lillian Dainty (left to right) use connectable circuits called littleBits to experiment with sound frequencies in the school's Boiler Room on March 26.

In resource-poor districts, vital STEAM resources are hard to come by

Brycen Simpson, 20, of New Kensington, looks over paperwork from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency during the Summer Success Academy at California University of Pennsylvania on Aug. 14, 2018.

Some Southwestern PA universities help students from under-resourced districts learn key college skills

PA’s secretary of education visits Sto-Rox to address disparities faced by students

Yvonne Tutera, a second-grade teacher at Francis McClure Elementary in the the McKeesport Area School District, teaches math class on Aug. 29. (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

Teachers find ways to provide basic school supplies for Pittsburgh-area students in needy districts

Braden Cartwright checks out a 3D printer inside the Brick Makerspace, a room filled with Legos and other building materials and equipment at Montour Elementary on Feb. 22, 2018.

Financial gaps among Allegheny County school districts are numerous. How funding affects everything from musicals to safety.

Anthony Wallace, a second-grade student at Francis McClure Elementary School in the McKeesport Area School District, works on subtraction during math class.

Chart: How much each Allegheny County school district brings in per student through property taxes

Once-thriving Clairton sits next to booming West Jefferson Hills. Their children are learning an early lesson on inequality.

In March, Amiyah Berrios, then a first-grade student at Duquesne Elementary School, raises her hand during math class.

Has there been a return to ‘pauper schools’ in Pennsylvania? A brief history of public education in the state.

Video: PublicSource LIVE interview with Sto-Rox teachers Suellen and Ben Engelhard on inequitable school funding

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera.

PA’s secretary of education discusses school inequities and the court case aiming to diminish them

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Two adjacent districts. Different academic worlds. The story of Sto-Rox and Montour.

Longtime McKees Rocks resident Ray Wolf graduated from Sto-Rox in 1989 and will have two daughters attending Sto-Rox Junior-Senior High School this year.

Sto-Rox parent: ‘I get embarrassed… It just reminds me of the failure that I am for my kids.’

Julie Himmelstein is a librarian and teacher at Sto-Rox Junior-Senior High School. (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

I teach at Sto-Rox high school. I am tired of telling my students we cannot give them more.

In May, Clairton Middle/High School student Jayla Hamlin, then a junior, writes about nuclear energy in a physics class.

Is Pennsylvania’s school funding unfair? This lawsuit hopes to upend the model.

Coming soon in this series

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