Pottstown Mayor Endorses Equity First
(Pottstown, PA) – Pottstown Mayor Sharon Thomas today announced her personal endorsement of Equity First, the initiative to fix 25 years of Basic Education underfunding. The June 2015 Basic Education Funding Commission Report identified 180 school districts underfunded by $937 Million, annually.
Pottstown School District is underfunded by $11.9 Million, Annually
“If Pottstown School District and the other underfunded districts do not receive additional Basic Education budget allocations,” stated Mayor Thomas, “we will remain severely underfunded for another 25 years, or longer.”
“So many taxpayers have suffered, losing their homes, struggling, added Mayor Thomas. “A generation of children have been penalized. This is wrong. And we need to fix this NOW.”
According to the June 2015 bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission Report, 180 school districts are underfunded by $937 Million and likewise 320 districts are overfunded by $937 Million. For many of the 180 underfunded districts their funding shortfalls started growing exponentially in 1991-1992 when student enrollment and poverty adjustments were removed from the funding formula, and the budgeting term, “hold-harmless” was introduced and funded. Since 1991, for many districts, the end result has been skyrocketing school property taxes. In other districts, property values have plummeted. In other districts, underfunding and hold-harmless have resulted in budget cuts, teacher and staff reductions and increases in class sizes. Is your district underfunded? Visit http://bit.ly/26g4OmQ to learn more.
Mayor Thomas declared, “I’m calling all Mayors, City and Borough Councils, and School Boards of the underfunded school districts to stand-up, rise-up and let’s work together to get this fixed.” She added, “There’s never been a better chance to fix a bigger wrong.”
Mayor Thomas stated several ways citizens can help fix the severe underfunding, “We need you to get loud, or we’ll be underfunded another 25 years!”
- Attend an upcoming Equity First meeting.
- Sign the Petition @ SupportEquityFirst.org.
- Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @EquityFirst and on LinkedIn.
- Share this information, get others to participate.
Ask legislators and school board members to help.