The Pennsylvania School Boards Association has sued Gov. Tom Wolf and the state’s legislature, treasurer, and education secretary for failing to provide timely funding of schools during a lengthy budget impasse.
The lawsuit says that state officials violated both the Pennsylvania Constitution and the U.S. Constitution in their “refusal and failure to pay state and federal funds to public school districts as required by law.”
Pennsylvania has not had a state budget since June. By December, districts had borrowed $900 million to help stay afloat and were contemplating keeping their doors closed after the Christmas break because they were running out of money.
Wolf signed an emergency measure in late December that included funding for districts. But the suit says it’s still unclear whether some districts will be able to operate past February.