State budget gives Butler County schools slight boost
With a $50.85 billion state budget agreement signed Sunday, July 12, local school leaders avoid another four months of panicking over lost funds.
The agreement between the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate led to passage of Pennsylvania’s 2026-27 state budget 12 days after its deadline, as opposed to last year’s 135 daylong impasse.
The agreement, reached weeks after local school districts had already approved their own budgets, includes billions in education funding, including an incremental increase from last year’s state budget.
“That’s good news for all of us. It is favorable to us, although we have not had a chance to look at in detail yet. I think overall it’s within 2% of what our overall budget projection was,” Brian White, Butler Area School District’s superintendent, said at a July 13 board meeting.
“But … what scares me a little bit is what’s next. Will the state use the rainy day fund to balance the budget? I don’t fully understand the maneuver with Medicare and Medicaid, they pushed a payment to next year,” White added. “The revenue may not match our means for next year. I think we need to be judicious moving forward here.”
In total, the 2026-27 state budget includes roughly $8.32 billion in basic education funding for the state’s K-12 public schools, only a 0.7% increase from last year. Special education funding for 2026-27 totals $1.581 billion, while the PA Ready to Learn Block Grant program is receiving $1.948 billion.
Parts of those funds are meant to address specific needs of public schools, such as efforts to close funding disparities and provide assistance to students and student teachers.
A noteworthy item is the $565 million increase in adequacy and equity funding. In Pennsylvania, adequacy funding is meant to help narrow disparities in public school funding. It is part of a multiyear effort following a 2023 state Commonwealth Court ruling that found the state’s school funding system was so inequitable it violated Pennsylvania’s constitution.
Last year, some districts only received the minimum $50,000 share. But others received significant amounts. Butler Area School District received $2.385 million last year. Mars Area School District received $1.42 million. Moniteau, a smaller and rural district, received $299,500. Karns City Area School District received just over $224,000. Slippery Rock Area received almost $597,000.
White said this year’s adequacy funds will be more than Butler has previously gotten. With one time costs and frequent uncertainty over future adequacy funds, schools have to be careful over how much of the funds they spend, White said.
“Yes, it will have a positive impact on us,” White said July 15. “The challenge with the adequacy funding is that it comes through the Ready to Learn Grant. Keep that last word in mind: grant. Grants are not subsidies. So the question is, long-term, will this continue to be funded or is it one time? It’s not supposed to be one time, but political aspirations and leadership change and so the funding could change.
“It makes you caution yourself over, what all do you commit with this money.”
The new budget also includes a $10 million increase for student teacher stipends, bringing total funding to $40 million for 2026-27. According to the Pennsylvania State Education Association, that means 700 additional student teachers and their cooperating mentors will be able to receive stipends.
The budget also includes a cost-of-living adjustment for more than 34,000 retired educators and support staff “who have not received an increase in their pensions for nearly 25 years,” the association said.
Other key budget elements highlighted by education groups include continuing universal free breakfast, providing funding to help schools implement structured literacy initiatives and further investments in the Solar for Schools program.
“PSBA views this budget as another important step in the commonwealth’s ongoing effort to strengthen and promote public education. Meaningful policy provisions contained within the past several budget cycles and this budget further Pennsylvania’s long-term education funding needs,” the Pennsylvania School Boards Association said in a news release.
According to the PSBA’s 2026 State of Education report, Pennsylvania has nearly 2 million students enrolled in its public schools, the seventh highest in the nation. In total, roughly 90% of Pennsylvanian children attend public school.
“This state budget reflects a remarkable commitment to K-12 public education in Pennsylvania and reminds us how important it is to elect pro-public education leaders,” education association president Aaron Chapin said in a news release.
