On August 3, 2023 Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law a budget for fiscal year 2023-24. The budget reportedly makes historic investments in education, delivering the largest increase in basic education funding in the Commonwealth’s history. In the process of signing the budget, the Governor line-item vetoed the full $100 million appropriation for the PASS scholarship program, as he promised he would. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.

Largest Increase in Basic Education Funding
The new budget will spend over $10 billion on K-12 public education funding. making a historic investment in K-12 public schools, including the largest increase in basic education funding (BEF) in Pennsylvania history and universal free breakfast for public school students. The budget includes:
-$100 million for school-based mental health counselors and resources for students.
-$567 million increase in basic education funding for Pennsylvania school districts to be distributed through the BEF Formula, enabling all school districts to have the basic resources they need to provide a high-quality education for Pennsylvania students. This is the largest BEF increase in history.
-$100 million for Level Up to ensure more resources go to Pennsylvania’s most underfunded schools.
-$50 million increase in special education funding, reinforcing Pennsylvania’s commitment to equitable education for all students.
-A $46.5 million increase in funding to provide universal free breakfast to Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million public school students regardless of income and free lunch to all 22,000 Pennsylvania students who are eligible for reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program.
-$10 million to provide Pennsylvania’s student teachers with stipends so the Commonwealth can get more well-trained teachers into our classrooms.
-$7 million to support dual enrollment opportunities for high school students allowing them to take advanced courses for college credit and chart their own course.

Increasing Access to Apprenticeships & Vocational and Technical Education
Building off the Governor’s Executive Order announcing that 92 percent of state government jobs are open to Pennsylvanians without college degrees, this budget would ensure more Pennsylvanians have the freedom to chart their own course by expanding our workforce, investing in vo-tech, and supporting apprenticeship programs, including:
-A $23.5 million investment in workforce training and vo-tech programs.
-A $6 million investment in apprenticeship and pre-apprentice programming that will lead to family-sustaining wages.
-$3.5 million in funding for the Schools-to-Work Program through the Department of Labor & Industry to develop and expand career pathways for high school students via partnerships between schools, employers, organizations, and the Commonwealth.

Investing in Health, Wellness, and Child Care
This budget makes critical investments in public health and wellness, including significant investments in mental health, including:
-A $66.7 million increase for Child Care Services allowing up to 75,000 low-income families to continue to be enrolled in subsidized childcare through the Child Care Works Program.
-$20 million to increase base funding for counties to provide critical mental health services and address deepening workforce shortages.
-Funding to help an additional 850 individuals with an intellectual disability and/or autism get off waitlists for home and community-based services.

For more information, access the governor’s press release  by clicking here.