Over one hundred business, labor, advocacy, civic, education, and government leaders came together for CORP’s symposium on “How Public School Funding Works in Pennsylvania – Or Doesn’t: What You Need to Know” at the Philadelphia Marriott in Conshohocken on May 30, 2014. The event was presented by the University Consortium to Improve Public School Finance and Promote Economic Growth (pdf.) (You will need Adobe Acrobat, or Acrobat Reader to access this file.)

Speakers and panelists included Rob Knoeppel, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Clemson University, who presented a national overview of educational finance systems; Bryan Hancock of McKinsey & Company, who presented his work on the economic impact of the achievement gap in America’s schools; State Representative Steve Santarsiero; Rob Wonderling, President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Charles Zogby, Pennsylvania Budget Secretary; State Senator Anthony H. Williams; State Representative Bernie O’Neill; State Representative Jim Roebuck; Rob Loughery, Chair, Bucks County Commissioners; Phil Rinaldi, CEO, Philadelphia Energy Solutions; Feather Houstoun, former CFO, SEPTA, and current School Reform Commission member; Bill Strahan, Executive VP for Human Resources at Comcast Cable; and Mike Pearson, President and CEO of Union Packaging. Rana Foroohar, assistant managing editor of TIME magazine, and global economic analyst for CNN, moderated the second panel of business leaders from the region.

Temple’s Center on Regional Politics (CORP), Penn State’s College of Education, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Center on Metropolitan Studies in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs formed the consortium to support state legislators and policymakers in a review of options for improving public school finance in Pennsylvania.

Also in the consortium is the Pennsylvania Policy Forum, an informal network of faculty members, academic leaders, and policy researchers at public and private colleges across the Commonwealth. Working with the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Policy Forum has organized symposia on institutional issues for all Senate and House members and information sessions for newly elected members of both chambers.

CORP research on the state and local share of education funding was distributed, and is also available here. This was the first of three symposia. Others are planned for western Pennsylvania in early October and for Harrisburg late in the year.