With the adoption of Pennsylvania's 2024-2025 state budget area school districts will receive an increase in funding as more than $1 billion has been earmarked in new K-12 education funding.

            The budget includes $100 million to reimburse districts for cyber charter school tuition payments.  Estimated to save public school districts $34.5 million, the budget includes some adjustments to disability payment formulas.

            In response to a Commonwealth Court ruling that deemed Pennsylvania's school funding system unconstitutional because of large funding gaps between the Commonwealth's poorest and wealthiest school districts, the budget includes more than $500 million in adequacy gap and tax equity funding for the most underfunded school districts.

            According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the enacted 2024-25 fiscal year budget includes $8,157,444,000 for the Basic Education Funding appropriation. This amount is a $285,000,000 (3.62%) increase over the 2023-24 enacted fiscal year appropriation. The enacted budget includes an increase of $225,000,000 in the student-weighted distribution formula to continue sustained investment in school district basic education programs and an increase of $60,000,000 to provide a hold harmless relief supplement.

            The budget also includes $821,500,000 for the Ready to Learn Block Grant.  This amount is a $526,000,000 increase (178%) over the 2023-24 fiscal year appropriation.  The enacted budget includes $295,500,000 for Ready To Learn Block Grant Foundation and $526,000,000 for Adequacy and Tax Equity supplements.

            It also includes $1,486,815,000 for the Special Education appropriation. This amount is a $100,000,000 increase (7.21%) over the 2023-24 fiscal year appropriation.  For the Special Education Funding component, new dollars after the 2013-2014 fiscal year total approximately $430,100,000.

            The Special Education appropriation also includes funding of approximately $109,179,178 for the following components, per Pennsylvania School Code: the Special Education Contingency Fund, core services funding to intermediate units, institutionalized Children's Program funding, special education for wards of state students, and special education for students placed out of state.

            Also included is $100,000,000 for the Cyber Charter Transition appropriation to reimburse school districts for the cost of tuition paid to cyber charter schools.  The budget includes approximately $118,027,000 for the Secondary Career and Technical Education Subsidy as well.

            According to information from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Basic Education Funding allocations for some of our area schools include:  $10,600,085 for the Upper Perkiomen School District - an increase of 2.1 percent over last year; $13,651,365 for the Quakertown Community School District - an increase of 4.3 percent over last year; $19,259,557 for the Boyertown Area School District – an increase of 2.6 percent; $8,534,096 for the Perkiomen Valley School District, - an increase of 3.6 percent; $12,342,794 for Souderton Area School District – an increase of 3.6%; and $6,16,275 for Southern Lehigh School District – an increase of 4.0%.