Upper Darby High School was the backdrop for PA Gov. Tom Wolf Friday as he spoke about a state education funding plan in his 2022 state budget proposal, writes Mallory Falk for WHYY.

He’s proposing boosting K-12 spending by $1.75 billion, with another $70 million for early childhood education.  

The money is there without raising taxes–in a $6.5 billion state surplus, Wolf said.

Twenty districts with the lowest household income would get more than half of the $1.55 billion.

The governor’s proposed budget also pushes another $300 million to the state’s 100 poorest districts, including Upper Darby, adding on to  “level up” funds the legislature approved last year.

A lawsuit trial is underway right now in commonwealth court to determine if the state is insufficiently funding school districts, and creating inequities in the schools.

That sentiment was felt by Khalid Doulat, an Upper Darby High junior who spoke during Wolf’s visit.

 “We are learning in aging schools and overcrowded classrooms and in old trailers that are intended to be used temporarily,” he said. “This type of overcrowding leads to stress, anxiety.”

The governor has to get his budget, his last before leaving office, past a Republican-controlled legislature.

Read more at WHYY about Friday’s visit by Gov. Wolf to Upper Darby.