Apr 22, 2015 3 min read

School districts, parents and others who sued the state on grounds that the commonwealth’s system of financing education is failing kids in less-affluent areas have suffered a setback, but there are still opportunities to address the very real problem.

On Tuesday, a panel of Commonwealth Court judges reaffirmed that the state Legislature, not the state court system, has the sole authority to determine how public schools will be funded. Attorneys for those who brought the lawsuit immediately served notice that they will appeal to the state Supreme Court.

In the interim between the Commonwealth Court decision and the Supreme Court taking up the matter, there is an opportunity for the Legislature and Gov. Tom Wolf to tackle the inequities in education funding. Typically, and for good reason based on past results, we have little faith in our lawmakers to produce results when it comes to handling major challenges facing the state, but we can hope.

For his part, the governor is proposing a $400 million increase in basic education funding, and his spokesman, Jeffrey Sheridan, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Wolf wants to work with a government commission that is tasked with developing a school funding formula.

It is crystal clear to us, and should be to anyone not wearing blinders, that students in places like Duquesne and Clairton are not getting the same level of educational opportunity as those in Fox Chapel and Peters Township.

The crux of the lawsuit, brought by six school districts, the state NAACP and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, is that Pennsylvania is not living up to the constitutional guarantee that the General Assembly must “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education.” It’s hard to believe that anyone really thinks that standard is being met.

State Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Philadelphia Democrat who is the ranking member of his party on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Post-Gazette that court action is clearly needed.

“We’ve waited too long for the Legislature to appropriately respond,” said Hughes. “When do the kids get equitable funding?”

But the Republican leader of the state Senate, Joe Scarnati, said the appeal to the Supreme Court simply raises taxpayers’ costs for the state’s defense.

“(The) decision by a unanimous Commonwealth Court validates our position that decisions regarding education funding are fully vested in the Legislature,” Scarnati said.

Well, then, Mr. Scarnati, please do something.

Otherwise, we hope that the justices of our state Supreme Court will recognize that when the state constitution is being breached, as it obviously is in this case, then the court needs to compel corrective action and force the Legislature to ensure that the educational needs of Pennsylvania’s children are being met in as equitable a manner as possible.