A court requirement to create a more equitable public school funding system in Pennsylvania is a key point in this year’s state budget, but it won’t be resolved by the budget’s June 30 deadline, writes Katie Meyer of Spotlight PA for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Commonwealth Court ruled in February that the state’s current school funding setup is unconstitutional and favors wealthier districts, but it left it to the legislators to fix it.

There is talk of extra education funding for this year’s budget, but a larger education overhaul will take longer.  

The Democrats, who now control the state House, want a larger funding increase and more money earmarked for the poorest districts.

Republicans don’t want to spend down the commonwealth’s existing multi-billion budget surplus,  worried about a possible economic downturn.

There’s also some GOP support for more publicly funded scholarships to attend private or charter schools, a policy opposed by Democrats.

Estimates are it will take a few billion dollars in new funding to meet the conditions of the ruling on top of $7.9 billion already being spent on basic education this fiscal year.

Read more about the impact of the court ruling on this year’s state budget discussions. In The Philadelphia Inquirer.