Pennsylvania education funding and community champions saved Erie public schools
Erie School District begins construction of new Edison Elementary School
On May 6, 2024, Erie School District Superintendent Brian Polito speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony about what a new Edison Elementary School means for their district.
The start of a new school year always energizes me. It is a fresh start, a blank slate, a time of optimism and anticipation, not only for our students and families, but also for our teachers and staff.
We welcome students back and look forward to many things. As always, I am excited about the coming year and the promises it brings. But this year it is important to take stock not only of where we are going, but also where we have been. How far we have come – and the crucial role you as a community have played in our success.
The challenges we faced as a district are now well known; we have shouted them from the rooftops and in the halls of our State Capitol to anyone who would listen. We have only recently recovered from a financial crisis that left us unable to pay salaries for months at a time, threatened to close schools, and ultimately landed the district on the state’s “financial watch list.” Some of our schools were in complete disrepair, and millions of dollars worth of repairs had been deferred. Our curriculum was outdated, and our student services required significant investment.
We have grappled with all of these challenges under the shadow of woefully inadequate state funding that continues to disadvantage our children – children who are among the neediest in our state.
Thanks largely to a coordinated, community-led lobbying effort with our legislators, Erie Public Schools was able to receive an additional $14 million in ongoing state funding in 2018. In the years since, we have used that money, pandemic relief funds, and Level Up dollars awarded to the most underfunded districts to improve district operations across the board.
Guided by a district-wide strategic plan and a detailed facilities plan, we have invested millions of dollars to ensure our schools are warm, safe, and dry places where our students can grow and learn and our staff can work. We have purchased new curriculum for the first time in 20 years. We have overhauled our student support system by adding mental health professionals and case managers to our schools, strengthened safety measures throughout the district, and implemented summer and after-school programs.
The return on this investment is real and impressive: we are seeing new curricula and building-level support being consistently implemented in all of our schools. For the first time, we are seeing student achievement increase across the board. We see and feel proud.
We are here today, a stronger and more functional district, thanks to the support of our community, our past and present school board members who take their mission seriously, and our local legislators, including Senator Dan Laughlin, Assemblyman Bob Merski, Assemblyman Pat Harkins, and the entire Democratic delegation. We are also incredibly grateful to our community partners, especially the United Way of Erie County. The United Way’s Community School model, which aims to eliminate all nonacademic barriers to student learning, is now in place at all of our elementary and middle schools and will be implemented at Erie High School this fall. The model has been nothing short of transformative, and we expect the same at Erie High.
Most of all, I want to thank our incredibly dedicated administrators, teachers, and staff who have not only embraced these changes, but have helped drive them forward. Without them, we simply would not be where we are today: able to fully focus on a shared mission and look to the future with confidence.
Our focus now must be on sustaining our success and continually improving. For years, district leaders, educators, and state and local lawmakers have been drumming up support for a fairer, more balanced funding formula that would put districts like Erie on a level playing field. Under the leadership of Governor Josh Shapiro, we are making progress: This year’s state budget included an $18.8 million increase in funding for Erie Public Schools. This money will help us address key priorities in the coming year, including tax relief and working with the Erie Education Association to improve teacher recruitment and retention through more competitive salaries and implementing instructional supports our teachers need and deserve.
These additional funds are much needed and greatly appreciated, but as Governor Shapiro knows, this is just a start. We need your continued support and commitment to continue closing the gap, sustaining our progress, and fulfilling our promise to help every student find their own personal path to success. Please continue to make your voice heard as a champion for our families, students, and staff, and know that your efforts to date have contributed to this hard-won success.
As we look forward to another new year, on behalf of the entire Erie Public Schools community, I want to share a simple message with you: Thank you.
Brian Polito is the superintendent of the Erie School District.
