Pennsylvania Education Secretary Noe Ortega was in Harrisburg this week testifying before lawmakers about the need for a significant increase in education funding.
This comes as Governor Tom Wolf is looking to add $1.5 billion to education in this year’s budget, but some lawmakers were curious how that money would be spent.
One area Ortega addressed was why he believes the increase is needed despite a rise in testing scores.
“[Testing] doesn’t consider all the factors that goes into determining the outcomes for our students,” Ortega said. “I think for us, we call an investment until we see that every student has the opportunity for success beyond the just the results of the assessment.”
The big ask in more funding would be a 26 percent increase compared to current funding levels.
