Shapiro’s education budget restarts free breakfast, adds mental health services

Classroom

Gov. Josh Shapiro provides for a 7.8%, or $567.4 million, increase in spending on basic education and $103.8 million increase in spending for special education. It also invests in ensuring some of the poorest students are eligible for two free meals a day as well as putting more money into ensuring safe learning environments for students. PennLive file photoHarrisburg Patriot-News

In his first budget, Gov. Josh Shapiro is proposing more funding for public schools, including increases in direct support to school districts, continuation of free breakfasts for all students, as well as free lunches for qualifying children and additional student mental health services.

What’s in the budget: The governor is seeking a 7.8%, or $567.4 million, increase in spending on direct funding to public school districts to cover inflationary and cost-of-living growth, which raises the investment in basic education to nearly $8.2 billion.

His budget proposal also provides for a $103.8 million increase in spending for special education, which would boost the total amount to more than $1.4 billion. He also is asking for a $30 million increase in Pre-K Counts to raise the per-child rate paid by $1,000, to $11,000, to help those programs hire more workers and reduce wait lists.

He also is calling for $38.5 million to continue the state’s universal free breakfast program that former Gov. Tom Wolf put in place this year and cover the full cost of lunches for the 22,000 students who qualify for reduced-price lunches; $100 million for school safety and security grants; $100 million to reduce and remediate environmental hazards in schools; and $100 million to increase mental health supports for students.

Behind the numbers: Shapiro recognizes that a Commonwealth Court decision declared the state education funding system broken and in need of massive investment to reduce the disparity of per-student spending between poor and wealthy districts.

Shapiro administration officials called the governor’s basic education proposal a conversation starter with lawmakers and advocates on how to better fund the public education system and put it on a path to full funding.

But along with that, the governor’s budget includes initiatives that legislators have identified as priorities including school safety, free meals for students and addressing the mental health needs of students and staff.

What’s intriguing: Despite the pressure of addressing the court decision, Shapiro showed restraint in his ask for basic education funding. He wants about one third of what Wolf proposed in his final budget last year and far less than the $2 billion that lawyers who litigated the school funding lawsuit considered a good start.

He also is making student mental health a huge priority as part of his education plan in calling for a $100 million block grant program to increase mental health services. In a governor’s news release, it says, “for too long, mental health has been an afterthought, mental health is a crisis that needs to be addressed.”

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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