Op-Ed: On public education, Pennsylvania can look like New Jersey or Texas

How will education in Pennsylvania evolve now that the state's school finance system has been ruled unconstitutional?

In an Op-Ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Penn GSE doctoral candidate Angus McLeod says we can look to other states, like New Jersey and Texas. Both have had dozens of lawsuits spanning decades. And as just happened here, their state courts determined that the state's educational system was unconstitutional, inadequate and inequitable.

Each state's response to its respective rulings offers lessons for legislators in PA.

"Everyone concerned that every child in our state must receive a good education, which requires more equitable funding, should push the courts to require two things of the Pennsylvania Legislature: a drastic increase in state spending on schooling and the progressive distribution of state funds so that poorer school systems receive what they need. The courts must signal their willingness to intervene if the legislature shirks its responsibility," McLeod writes.

Read the full article here.