The trial expected to be heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the fall could ensure more equitable school funding in the Keystone State, writes Charlie Bacas for the York Daily Record.

The state currently has more than 200 urban and rural school districts that are significantly disadvantaged, according to a 2015 Education Trust study. The study showed that Pennsylvania’s highest poverty districts receive 17 percent less annual funding per student compared to affluent districts.

This makes Pennsylvania the second worst in the nation according to the rich-versus-poor school funding gap.

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It wasn’t always like this. The high-water mark for contributions to public education funding by the state was in 1975. At the time, the state reimbursed school districts for 55 percent of their instructional expenses. However, by 2015, the state’s share decreased to 39 percent, placing it fourth from the bottom nationwide.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered an evidentiary trial on the factual issues of underfunding in schools, and has indicated that it will invoke the Constitutional right of equal protection under the law on behalf of poverty students.

Read more about the issue of school funding in the York Daily Record here.

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