June 22, 2026
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Mayor Cherelle Parker and city leaders rallied at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday to implore state lawmakers for more funding to help Philadelphia's public schools.
Mayor Cherelle Parker and Philly school district leaders went to Harrisburg on Monday to ask state lawmakers for more money to help the city rehabilitate its aging facilities.
Parker said she was "agnostic" about where the funding would come from but that support from the General Assembly is paramount to closing the district’s $300 million budget deficit and repairing its infrastructure. At the rally, Parker was joined by City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Superintendent Tony Watlington and School Board President Reginald Streater.
To support Philly's 10-year, $3 billion facilities plan that would modernize 169 schools and close 17 others, Parker requested a "doubling down" on the state’s Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program, which provides funds for infrastructure and safety upgrades for public school districts and technical schools.
“We can’t expect our children to be able to compete in this 21st-century global economy in schools that were built during the dinosaur age,” Parker said. “... If there was ever a time that Philadelphia and advocates for public education across our commonwealth needed to come together, the time is now.”
The School District of Philadelphia has dedicated $1.1 billion to support its facilities plan, which was approved by the School Board in April, but said that another $2 billion will need to be raised from public and private partners.
“We have done our part in Philadelphia, we are here to ask [General Assembly members] to please do your part and keep our joint commitment” Parker said.
School leaders also pushed the General Assembly to fully approve the budget proposal from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), that includes a $565 million fund to be distributed between the state’s 500 school districts. If passed this year, the School District of Philadelphia would receive around $135 million in adequacy funding, leaders said.
Adequacy funding was established during the 2024-25 budget session in an effort to comply with a 2023 court ruling that found the state’s method of funding public institutions was unconstitutional. The system aims to prioritize underfunded school districts.
“This investment is essential if we are serious about giving students the resources they need and giving their educators and school staff the conditions they need to do their jobs well,” said Bernadette Ambrose-Smith, president of the School Police Association of Philadelphia.
Representatives with Parker and Shapiro’s offices did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
Monday’s rally came weeks after City Council passed a preliminary budget that rejected Parker’s proposals to increase taxes on hotel stays and rideshare services to support schools. The plan did earmark $48 million to the school district in an effort to stave off the elimination of 340 school-based staffing positions.
District officials initially said the one-time allotment would not be enough to retain the jobs, but reversed course a week later after Parker and Johnson said they would identify recurring revenue to support the district. The source of the revenue has not been finalized.
The politically divided General Assembly has until June 30 to finalize the proposed $53.3 billion budget plan put forward by Shapiro in February. In a statement Monday, Republicans said the body felt “encouraged” by the progression of negotiations. Last year, leaders were embattled in a budget impasse lasting nearly five months past the July 1 deadline.
