On December 10, State Sen. Vincent Hughes and State Rep. Jordan Harris, Democratic Appropriation Chairs for the state Senate and House, announced $175 million in grant funding for repairs and renovations to Pennsylvania school buildings. 

The funding comes from the Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program, a new grant program that was established during fiscal year 2023-2024 budget negotiations.

The announcement was made at Martha Washington Academics in West Philadelphia, one of the recipients of the grant. $1.4 million was awarded to Martha Washington for bathroom renovations. A total of $16.77 million was awarded to the Philadelphia School District for repairs and renovations to seven different school buildings.

“This funding is the result of a lot of work from a lot of people to get one step closer to ensure all our public school students can learn in 21st century school buildings,” said Sen. Hughes. “This is a commitment that complements the $1.1 billion dollar increase we delivered for education in our last budget. And we will continue to keep our students, teachers, and administrators a priority as we get ready to enter our next budget cycle, because we only deny our own progress when we don’t set our education system up for success.”

State Rep. Harris explained, “I have traveled across the Commonwealth and have seen schools across Pennsylvania that are in disrepair and in need of financial support. This is not a partisan issue, or an argument between rural, suburban, and urban. This is an education issue for all of Pennsylvania. If we believe children are our future, we need to send them to schools that look like the future.”

A number of leaders from Philadelphia and the Commonwealth joined the press conference to express their appreciation and support of the facilities funding. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker added, “I’m here on behalf of the city of Philadelphia to say thank you. Thank you for making your leadership matter.”