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Here’s some of what’s in the bill that directs historic new Pa. education funding • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

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Here’s some of what’s in the bill that directs historic new Pa. education funding • Pennsylvania Capital-Star


Perhaps the most significant number in the 2025 budget is $1.1 billion in new spending on K-12 education.

The funding comes after Commonwealth Court declared that Pennsylvania’s current method of funding public schools was unconstitutional, citing inequities between the state’s wealthiest school districts and its poorest.

While the general appropriations bill — the legislative centerpiece of the budget — outlines how much money will go towards education in the coming year, it’s another bill that tells the state how it can spend those funds: the public school code bill.

Code bills are passed alongside the budget. While the general appropriations bill says how much money each part of the government will get, the code bills more or less lay out how those dollars can be spent.

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The bill also contains what are effectively individual policies, from the massive new funding formula that will change how money is distributed to Pennsylvania’s school districts, to smaller policy points, like allowing schools grants to provide menstrual hygiene products.

Here are some of the big items that made it into this year’s code bill:

The new funding formula

Arguably the most substantive part of the bill lays out how more than $526 million in adequacy and equity grants will be distributed to Pennsylvania’s school districts based on factors like the student poverty rate.

Because schools receive so much funding from property taxes, school districts where property values are lower have an inherent disadvantage. 

The $526 million in new funds is intended to shrink that equity gap, and award extra money to schools with high levels of poverty among its students and greater numbers of kids whose primary language isn’t English.

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What data would drive those funds was one of the biggest sources of contention between Democrats and Republicans during the drawn-out budget negotiations. 

Democrats had hoped to use data reported by the school districts themselves, while Republicans wanted to use U.S. Census data.

Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster), who was a leader in creating the House Democrats’ version of a funding formula, said, “the schools have a pretty good idea when they’re talking to these parents whether or not they’re making $30,000 a year or they’re making $300,000.”

He said that census data has historically underreported poverty.

However, Senate Republicans, who ultimately won out, said that the self-reported data is too hard to verify.

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Ultimately, the parties agreed to use census figures.

Democrats had to make other concessions in the fight over equity funding as well. Back in February, Gov. Josh Shapiro had proposed spending $872 million on closing the equity gap, a number that was rejected by Republicans.

Charter school restraints

When a student attends a charter school, the charter school gets money that would have gone to the student’s school district. The amount is based on the average per-student spending of that school district, with a separate formula for students with disabilities..

The code bill establishes a formula for reimbursing traditional public schools for some of the money that follows would-be students to cyber charter schools. The budget set aside $100 million for that purpose. It also changes the formula for how much money follows students with special needs, which is estimated to save public schools $34.5 million. 

The bill would also force charter schools to put in their advertisements that they were paid for with taxpayer dollars, a largely symbolic victory for Democrats who opposed money intended for public schools going to charters.

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It also makes new requirements of charter school board members. At least five must be non related voting members. Charter schools will also be required to make certain budget documents public.

Security and mental health grants

Schools will receive $120 million to provide security and mental health services. Every school will now be required to have a security guard, and the money can go to funding that position. Plus, those security guards can be armed.

Of that, $20 million is set aside for safety grants for non-public schools and school entities like charters.

Odds and ends

The bill also provides funding for policies that had been included in bills that were introduced through the traditional legislative process, but never completed by the House or Senate.

That includes up to $3 million for grants that would allow schools to purchase feminine hygiene products. The idea appears similar to one proposed in a House bill sponsored by Rep. Darisha Parker (D-Philadelphia).

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Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton) said the free tampons could promote “communism” when the bill was debated on the House floor. The bill was never taken up in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Funding for a grant program that would allow schools to lock students’ cell phones away during the school day mirrors a bill sponsored by Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster). That bill passed the Senate, but never appeared in the House.

The public school code bill would allow some of the school safety and mental health funding to go towards the purchase of special bags that can be locked during the day for students to place their phones in — so long as the school comes up with a policy prohibiting cell phone use during the school day.



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Pennsylvania

Ticket sold in Pennsylvania worth $1M as Mega Millions swells to $1.15B for post-Christmas draw

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Ticket sold in Pennsylvania worth M as Mega Millions swells to .15B for post-Christmas draw


Billionaire dreams continue through Christmas after no ticket purchased in the $1 billion Christmas Eve 2024 Mega Millions draw hit the jackpot.

The jackpot rolled again — this time to $1.15 billion — after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024.

Léelo en español aquí.

Don’t throw away your tickets just yet as one sold in Pennsylvania is worth $1 million, according to Mega Millions.

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What were the winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on Christmas Eve?

The Mega Millions draw for Dec. 24, 2024, went like this: The white balls drawn were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, plus the gold Mega Ball 3.

Ticket sold in Pennsylvania strikes $1 million prize

In total, fours tickets sold matched all five white balls, but missed the gold Mega Ball, the lottery said. Those tickets sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming and Pennsylvania are worth $1 million a piece.

NBC10 has reached out to Pennsylvania Lottery to find out where the Keystone State winner was sold. However, the state lottery offices are closed for Christmas, so the winning store won’t be revealed until Thursday at the earliest, a spokesperson said.

Nearly 4.3 million tickets sold around the country in Tuesday’s draw matched at least the gold Mega Ball and are worth $2 or more.

Once again, the winning numbers in the Dec. 24, 2024, draw were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, with a Mega Ball of 3.

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If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.

When is the next Mega Millions draw?

Get out $2, jump into office pools and gift tickets to family as the next Mega Millions draw on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, is worth at least $1.15 billion for the annuity and $516.1 million lump sum cash value, Mega Millions said.

That massive jackpot is the fifth largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions said.

“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a Christmas news release. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays – whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season – than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game.”

What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, plus the Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.

When did someone last hit the Mega Millions jackpot?

It’s been since Sept. 10, 2024, since a ticket sold in Texas hit all five numbers and the Mega Ball to win an $810 million jackpot.

Good luck!



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Pennsylvania

Future Oscar Hammerstein Museum in Doylestown gets $500K in Pa. funds

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Future Oscar Hammerstein Museum in Doylestown gets 0K in Pa. funds


Junker said members of the executive committee have launched their own matching challenge, donating $100,000 once the same amount has been raised.

The museum bought Highland Farm a year ago from the previous owner who operated it as a Rodgers and Hammerstein–themed bed-and-breakfast. Hammerstein lived in the farmhouse for the last 20 years of his life, a period when he and composer Richard Rodgers created some of the most enduring musicals of American theater, including “The Sound of Music,” “Oklahoma” and “South Pacific.”

“Institutions like this help us to lead lives of purpose and meaning, they enrich our lives and provide opportunities for lifelong learning for folks of all ages,” said state Rep. Tim Brennan, a former board member of the museum. “Investing in this organization is an investment in our future.”

The first RACP grant in 2020 went toward buying the property and doing basic maintenance.

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“One of the first things we did was install a security system,” Junker said. “Because we have started to collect some artifacts.”



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2 Western Pennsylvania men charged in murder-for-hire plot confession to pastor, police say

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2 Western Pennsylvania men charged in murder-for-hire plot confession to pastor, police say


State police in Western Pennsylvania have charged two men in a murder-for-hire plot after one of the suspects allegedly confessed to his pastor.

NBC News affiliate WJAC reports David Vanatta, 49, and Colton Baird, 32, both of Elk County, were jailed for an alleged plot to kill Vanatta’s ex-wife.

An affidavit obtained by WJAC states Vanetta confessed to a pastor that he paid Baird $2,000 to kill his ex-wife. The pastor then reported the information to police.

Police say the ex-wife was never harmed.

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Online court records show Vanatta and Baird are facing several charges, including criminal solicitation – criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide and attempted homicide. Both men are being held in the Elk County Prison without bail.

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