Gov. Josh Shapiro highlights public education investments at Scranton elementary school visit

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited Neil Armstrong Elementary School in Scranton on Wednesday to highlight investments in public education.

“I think investing in education isn’t just about dollars and cents,” Shapiro said. “It’s also about common sense.”

Shapiro touted $11.85 billion in state subsidies for Pennsylvania public schools, as part of the 2026-27 state budget.

“That represents an over 30% increase in state funding for public education since the day I took office nearly four years ago,” Shapiro said.

The 2026-27 budget includes a $565 million increase in adequacy and tax equity formula funding, for a total of $1.9 billion. Adequacy funds are intended to provide more money to historically underfunded schools.

Sydney Allabaugh

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WVIA News

Impact for the Scranton School District

Superintendent Erin Keating said the Scranton School District was one of these underfunded schools that faced financial collapse less than a decade ago. The district had to slash programs, furlough staff and considered closing buildings.

“We had to do more with less,” Keating said. “What it means is that programs disappear, opportunities for children go away, and educators are expected to stretch and stretch and stretch.”

Schools across the state had rallied for fair funding for years. Commonwealth Court ruled in February 2023 that the state’s system to fund education was unconstitutional. Since taking office, Shapiro has secured more than $3 billion more for K-12 public education, the largest investment in Pennsylvania history.

“When we see this increased funding in Pennsylvania, it matters,” Keating said.

State funding for the Scranton School District has increased by 63.5% since Shapiro has been in office, equating to an almost $48 million influx, he said. The school district will receive $123.4 million in state funding this year.

The additional funds allowed the district to open 26 new autism support classrooms, restore arts programming, offset costs for English language development and other programming, and hire new school counselors, eight new elementary STEM teachers and a district-wide librarian.

“We’ve also used these resources to begin dramatically fixing the infrastructure of the school district in multiple areas across the school district,” Keating said.

Tom Borthwick, Scranton School Board president, noted the library the press conference was in was not one a year ago.

“Through the governor’s efforts, through the efforts of our representatives and our state senator, we have been getting funds and investing them in things like restoring libraries,” Borthwick said.

State Reps. Bridget Kosierowski and Kyle Donahue, Democrats whose districts both cover part of Scranton, also spoke on the local impact of education investment.

“This funding is doing more than filling budget gaps,” Donahue said. “It’s helping districts restore programs that were cut, expand opportunities for students and provide the supports our kids need to succeed.

“This is what it looks like when we invest in our kids and we make sure a child’s ZIP code doesn’t determine their future,” he said.

Sydney Allabaugh | WVIA News

Other investments

Shapiro also touted a 60% increase in funding for vo-tech and career and technical education.

“Every single pathway to success needs to have opportunity surrounded in it and funding attached to it,” he said. “We value the trades, we value skills, and we believe those are the skills that are going to help drive our economy forward.”

Shapiro noted the number of teachers is growing in the state again for the first time in more than a decade, which he attributed to a $40 million investment this year in Pennsylvania Student Teacher Support Program, offering stipends for student teachers. He also mentioned efforts to secure universal free breakfast and mandated recess for K-5 students.

Carrie Rowe, Pennsylvania Department of Education secretary, said these investments come alongside a decrease in absenteeism and increasing graduation rate. Pennsylvania is a national leader for career readiness for the first time, Rowe said.

“These outcomes… didn’t happen by chance,” she said. “It happened because of those strategic investments… Now we can get on with the most important work, and that’s the work of focusing on students.”