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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 man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer

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Pennsylvania man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer


A Pennsylvania man was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar, according to reports.

Timothy Grace, 40, was busted on Feb. 21 after carrying his wounded pet budgie named “Blue Skies” in his pocket to Callaghan’s Bar in Greensburg, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Timothy Grace was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar. WTAE

“The caller’s a bartender. She says there is a white male at the bar with a parakeet,” a dispatcher reported on the police radio transmissions obtained by the outlet.

“The patron was bragging to other people that were inside the bar that he feeds the parakeet marijuana and has it drink beer on a daily basis,” Detective Sergeant Justin Scalzo told the outlet.

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Grace “appeared extremely intoxicated” when police showed up to the bar and found the pet bird in distress, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

“Its leg appeared to be broken,” Scalzo said, according to WTAE. “Its foot was actually facing the wrong direction.”

Grave was initially arrested for public intoxication and now faces charges including aggravated cruelty to animals and transporting animals in a cruel manner, the outlet said.

The pet bird was brought to PEARL Parrot Rescue in the Pittsburgh area, which rushed him to an emergency care facility.


Exterior of Callaghan's bar, with a sign showing
The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg. WTAE

Blue Skies spent four days in the hospital and was later taken in to be fostered by Teri Grendzinski, the president of PEARL. The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg, CBS reported.

“They realized his leg was broken. He also had some respiratory issues going on,” Grendzinski told the outlet. “He was also very, very skinny.”

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“The leg was broken badly enough there is a chance they’re going to have to amputate the leg if it doesn’t heal correctly,” she added.

If Blue Skies is eventually put up for adoption, he will require specialized care, the outlet said.

“When we got that call, it was horrifying. Why would you do that to a bird?” Grendzinski said.



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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico

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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico


A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter’s best friend over a three-year span before fleeing with the teen to Mexico.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Kevin Esterly, 53, of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, was convicted on all counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of children.

Esterly shook his head as the verdict was read but said nothing in the courtroom.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

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Esterly’s trial began on Tuesday, March 3, after a judge denied his pretrial motion for the charges against him to be dismissed and for the Lehigh County District Attorney to be removed as a prosecutor in the case.

Both Esterly and his victim testified on Wednesday, March 4.

The victim — who is now 24-years-old — told the courtroom that she met Esterly and his family while attending church as a child and became best friends with one of his daughters. Esterly was a youth leader and elder at the church at the time. The victim said Esterly also coached her soccer team.

The victim said she became so close to Esterly’s family that she called his wife “mom” and eventually spent almost every weekend at their home in Lowhill Township, Pennsylvania. She also said she vacationed with them in New York state and Ocean City, Maryland.

The victim said Esterly first sexually assaulted her in August 2015 when she was 13-years-old after he gave her alcohol during a family birthday party.

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“I was scared. Frozen in fear,” the woman told the courtroom on Wednesday. “I pretended I was sleeping.”

The woman accused Esterly of sexually assaulting her almost every time she slept over at his home. She told the courtroom she eventually became addicted to alcohol and drugs, which Esterly gave her in exchange for sex. According to the woman, Esterly gave her cocaine and methamphetamine to keep her awake during school because she “would be up with him all night.”

The woman said Esterly continued to sexually assault her until he was confronted by his wife in 2017. Esterly’s wife then threw him out of the house, according to the victim. She said Esterly continued to sexually assault her over the next year.

Esterly was later arrested and then sentenced to prison after federal agents found him with the victim in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2018. She was 16-years-old at the time.

The woman said she moved on and went to college after Esterly’s sentencing though she still struggled with drug addiction. She said she sought counseling in February 2025. She told the courtroom she received a message from Esterly on LinkedIn that same month in which he apologized for “failing you as a person I was supposed to be for you.” At that point Esterly had been released from prison.

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The woman said she had not told anyone about her relationship with Esterly up to that point and replied to him, “I live with our secret every day as I promised. I would appreciate an apology.”

The woman told the courtroom that Esterly responded by writing, “I hope one day you can forgive me. Nobody knows I reached out to you. That is the best for both of us.”

On Feb. 21, 2025, Allentown Police received a report of Esterly’s sexual assaults which led to the new charges being filed against him. He was arrested in West Virginia in June 2025 after two police pursuits. He was then extradited to Pennsylvania.

The victim told the courtroom on Wednesday that she kept quiet about Esterly’s abuse for years because she “was afraid to speak,” and felt “dirty and ashamed.”

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone,” she said. “He was a father figure in my life. I loved him.”

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The woman also said she didn’t want to hurt Esterly’s daughter who was her best friend.

When the District Attorney asked her why she was “here today,” she replied by saying, “I want to tell the truth. I want to be set free.”

The woman ended her testimony by saying, “I don’t want to live with this secret anymore.”

After her testimony, Esterly took the stand for 45 minutes, denied all of the accusations against him and accused the woman of lying.

Closing arguments then took place Thursday morning. It then took an hour for the jury of seven women and five men to reach their verdict.

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say



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Two women are dead in Pennsylvania and a man is dead in Illinois after an apparent murder-suicide, police said on Wednesday.

According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation began in Hillside, Illinois, when police there were dispatched after a man reported two women dead in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania. Police said that when officers got to Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago, they found that the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After identifying him, troopers said Hillside officers contacted police from Jackson Township to request a welfare check at the man’s home on Dior Drive, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. 

Map shows distance from Hillside, Illinois, to Zelienople, Pennsylvania

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KDKA


Police said officers used forced entry to get into the home and found two women dead from apparent gunshot wounds. It’s believed the two women were family members of the man who died by suicide in Illinois, investigators said. 

Pennsylvania State Police said they’ve assumed control of the case and are “actively investigating” what happened surrounding the three deaths.

Police didn’t release any names, saying the process of formal identification and notification of next of kin hasn’t been completed. Sources told KDKA that the victims were a husband, wife and their daughter.

“At this time, investigators believe there is no ongoing threat to the public, and law enforcement is not searching for any additional individuals in connection with this incident,” police wrote in the public information release report. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation.”

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State police didn’t release any other details on Wednesday but said more information will be made public when it’s available.  

“My first reaction was shocked because this is such a close-knit neighborhood, and to think something that horrible could happen here is very tragic because they were such a good family,” neighbor Danielle Sporer said on Wednesday. 



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