Bucks Quakers Campaign for Full and Fair Education Funding
Members of Southampton Meeting and Newtown Meeting have aligned with the Bucks County chapter of POWER Interfaith in a nonviolent direct action and advocacy campaign for education justice in our state. Their work this fall has been to make noise to call attention to the case in Commonwealth Court that is suing state officials alleging that they are violating the Pennsylvania Constitution’s requirement for a “thorough and efficient system of public education.” They invite members of other meetings in Bucks Quarter to join in working for full and fair education funding.
To call attention to the trial and to urge the legislature to act, these Bucks Quakers joined with 200 POWER supporters on the steps of the capitol on November 17, 2021. The group included Friends not only from Bucks Quarter, but also from Lancaster and Philadelphia. On November 21, the Bucks group held a rally in Doylestown. And then they were back in Harrisburg on December 15 where they drew the participation of six members of the state legislature with a slogan “Apple for the teacher? Fair funding is better.” Their efforts were reported in the Courier Times, Bucks County Herald, and the Lower Bucks Times.
Pennsylvania ranks as one of the lowest in providing state funding to public education. According to the state’s own metrics the education budget falls about 1/3 short of meeting basic requirements for proficiency in reading and math. Not only is the funding inadequate, it is inequitable. Distribution is skewed to disadvantage schools in poor communities and communities of color—81% of students of color are in underfunded districts. The website FundOurSchoolsPA.org has a map showing all the school districts in the state colored in terms of how fully they meet the state standards for funding. Bucks County has every category—from well funded districts such as Council Rock and New Hope-Solebury to the most underfunded such as Bensalem and Bristol. Inequitable funding is both a manifestation of structural racism, and also serves to perpetuate racial disparities.
POWER is an interfaith and interracial organization working for racial and economic justice. Begun in Philadelphia in 2011, POWER began organizing in the suburban counties in the late teens. POWER Bucks is working both on the issue of education justice and on protecting the vote. Other meetings in Bucks Quarter can learn more at powerinterfaith.org or by contacting Nancy Martin or Pat McBee in Newtown or John Magee in Southampton. They serve on the Education Justice Strategy Team for POWER Bucks.