Philly Leader

Governor Tom Wolf celebrated his administration's $3.7 billion investment in public education over eight years with Reading School District officials and Lauer's Park Elementary School students and faculty on Aug. 4. 

“A good education sets students up for a lifetime of success. And when well-educated students grow up and build their lives here in the commonwealth, their success will power our economy and lead our commonwealth into a brighter future,” Wolf said. “It’s an investment in an educated commonwealth and a roaring economy for decades to come.”

During the event, Wolf recalled how his top priority after taking office in 2015 was proper funding for education. Following 2022's budget talks, investments included the following:

• $525 million increase through the Fair Funding Formula, with Pennsylvania schools seeing their funding increase by approximately 8%.
• $225 million increase for Level Up to provide targeted support to the 100 most in-need school districts, ensuring that every child in Pennsylvania receives equal access to a high-quality education.
• $100 million increase for special education.
• $79 million increase for Early Education through Pre-K Counts and Head Start.
• $220 million for public higher education.

“Gov. Wolf has made funding for public education a priority and school districts in Berks County are much better for it,” state Sen. Judy Schwank said. “Every student, regardless of ZIP code, should be able to get a high-quality education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is a mission we should all be working towards together, and the only way to accomplish this is to fully fund our public schools and support the teachers we rely on.”