In This Together NEPA Statement on the passage of the 2025-2026 Pennsylvania Budget

On Wednesday, November 12, 2025, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bipartisan education budget that invests in Pennsylvania’s children and continues the progress towards full funding for ALL public schools. These public education policy wins will benefit millions of Pennsylvania school children, and would not have been possible without the leadership of Governor Shapiro and House and Senate leaders. The Legislature’s passage of this agreement — with bipartisan support — also enacts historic reforms to cyber charter school tuition payments, providing real accountability and savings for public school districts and taxpayers. 

In This Together NEPA welcomes this education budget, including: the inclusion of a second year of adequacy funding (also known as the Ready to Learn Block Grant), reforms to cyber charter tuition payments, greater accountability for cyber charters, and additional funding for school facilities. In voting for the second yearly installment of adequacy funding, legislators have reaffirmed their constitutional commitment to fixing underfunding in our public schools and enshrined adequacy as a non-negotiable budget priority. The Legislature’s actions to rein in cyber charter school costs by reforming tuition payments is transformative and will result in a net savings of $78 million for public school districts and taxpayers. Furthermore, this year’s budget includes reforms that will increase transparency and accountability for cyber charters, including policies like wellness checks and stricter provisions regarding truancy. In total, this $50.1 billion dollar budget puts $788 million dollars of additional funding into PA classrooms and provides another $125 million for school facilities, including $25 million for the Solar for Schools Program.

While this agreement shows what our General Assembly can accomplish when the needs of students and constituents are prioritized, we cannot ignore or minimize the significant harm that the prolonged budget impasse inflicted on students, school districts, and communities. For months, districts and nonprofits that serve schools were forced to choose between deep cuts to programs or taking on short-term high interest loans. Meanwhile, an extreme faction of the Pennsylvania Senate – comprised of Freedom Caucus members – turned a blind eye to the impact on our communities and spent months engaging in political games. 

The progress made in this education budget is laudable and transformative. However, the stalemate that preceded this budget was entirely unnecessary and unacceptable. PA students, families, and taxpayers deserve better. They deserve a budget process that places their needs before the self-serving interests of Harrisburg politicians.