(The Center Square) — Students, parents, and teachers are anxiously watching and waiting to see how the state’s billion-dollar education funding increase and new adequacy formula will impact struggling school districts, even as district property taxes continue to rise.
In the meantime, success measures reflect the depth of learning loss since the beginning of the pandemic, and administrators search for talent amidst a severe labor shortage.
Throughout these fundamental challenges, Pennsylvania schools, both K-12 and post-secondary, have repeatedly found themselves at the center of the political clashes pulling at the nation in 2024.
Politicized pressure
The battle over transgender issues reached Pennsylvania with a federal court ruling that parents have the right to receive advanced notice and remove their children from lessons including gender ideology. The incident in the court case related to statements and reading outside the school’s curriculum.
Anti-war protests supporting the people of Palestine and demanding institutional divestments from Israel roiled college campuses and brought national attention to the state in the spring.