The Arc from Non-Justiciable to Fundamental: The History of School Funding Challenges in Pennsylvania

Authors

Claudia De Palma, The Public Interest Law CenterFollow
Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, Public Interest Law CenterFollow

Abstract

Pennsylvania has recognized the importance of public education since the Commonwealth’s inception in 1776. Although early versions of the Pennsylvania Constitution only contemplated a discretionary system of schools for poor children, in 1834 the state’s public education system was expanded through statute to provide schooling to all children. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the founding fathers of this expansion, explained that the purpose of a universal public education system was to ensure that “the blessing of education shall be conferred on every son of Pennsylvania—shall be carried home to the poorest child of the poorest inhabitant of the meanest hut of your mountains, so that even he may be prepared to act well his part in this land of freedom[.]”

Recommended Citation

De Palma, Claudia and Urevick-Ackelsberg, Dan (2024) "The Arc from Non-Justiciable to Fundamental: The History of School Funding Challenges in Pennsylvania," Widener Commonwealth Law Review: Vol. 33: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://cwldc.widener.edu/wclr/vol33/iss1/3