Keystone Today

Governor Tom Wolf celebrated his administration's investment of $3.7 billion in public education over the last eight years during an Aug. 4 event at Lauer's Park Elementary School attended by Reading School District students, educators and elected officials. The governor's 2022 budget allocates about $1.8 billion for education investments.

During the event, Wolf recalled how proper funding for education was his top priority after he took office in 2015. Following 2022's budget talks, investments included the following:

• $525 million increase through the Fair Funding Formula, with Pennsylvania schools seeing their funding increase by approximately 8%.
• $225 million increase for Level Up to provide targeted support to the 100 most in-need school districts, ensuring that every child in Pennsylvania receives equal access to a high-quality education.
• $100 million increase for special education.
• $79 million increase for Early Education through Pre-K Counts and Head Start.
• $220 million for public higher education.

“Gov. Wolf has made funding for public education a priority and school districts in Berks County are much better for it. Every student, regardless of ZIP code, should be able to get a high-quality education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," said state Senator Judy Schwank. "This is a mission we should all be working towards together, and the only way to accomplish this is to fully fund our public schools and support the teachers we rely on.”