Erie’s Public Schools and the United Way of Erie County met with business leaders to discuss the “State of the District.”
Representatives were able to learn more about United Way’s investments in the district such as facility upgrades and new curriculums for students.
“Our focus is to address the generational cycle of poverty in our community, and we know that education is the key to breaking that cycle,” said Laurie Root, president of the United Way of Erie County.
Currently, all elementary and middle schools in the City of Erie follow United Way’s community schools model, which has helped them receive more resources.
United Way addresses ‘State of the District’ update with community schools
Erie High School will also be a part of the model this upcoming fall. Root said for many years unfair funding has negatively impacted Erie’s public schools.
“The business leaders are often looking downstream with a lot of great things going on in our community, but we’re looking upstream at the investment in our most precious human capital,” said Root. “We need to take seriously investing and supporting our public schools so that we have that workforce and we have the healthy vibrant community.”