Ciresi highlights continued progress on cyber charter reform, addressing education underfunding in Governor Shapiro’s budget proposal

State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, reacted to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed 2025-26 budget unveiled today before a joint session of the General Assembly.

“This budget proposal from Governor Shapiro continues the significant progress we’ve made in bringing state funding to our long-underfunded school districts.” Ciresi said. “Building on the historic investments in our public schools and steps to reform our broken charter school law that we achieved in the previous budget, this proposal would continue that work on education funding and cyber charter reform. The result will be lower property taxes, more resources for our public schools, and a fairer education system for all students and taxpayers.”

Ciresi said the proposed budget includes an additional $641 million in education funding, mostly directed to school districts like Pottstown and Pottsgrove that have been identified as most in need of additional state aid. The proposal also includes $265 million in savings for school districts by setting a statewide cyber charter school tuition rate of $8,000 per student per year, aligning these payments of tax dollars from school districts with the actual expenses of providing an online education. This was a key component of comprehensive cyber charter reform legislation proposed by Ciresi last session.

The combined education funding increases and cost savings from cyber charter reform would mean an additional $4.8 million to school districts in the 146^th District, including:

• Pottsgrove School District: $1.2 million.
• Pottstown School District: $2.7 million.
• Spring-Ford Area School District: $1 million.

Ciresi said Shapiro’s budget also proposes notable investments in economic development, community revitalization, and improving Pennsylvania’s business climate. This includes a continuation of funding for the Main Street Matters program to revitalize communities, a PA Innovation initiative to spur job growth in the life sciences industry, and employer incentives for worker training and industry internships.

“By helping attract emerging industries to Pennsylvania and making sure our state has a trained workforce ready to compete in a global economy, this budget positions Pennsylvania to grow and create new opportunities for our residents,” Ciresi said. “This budget has investments that will help revitalize downtowns like Pottstown’s and Royersford’s while driving job creation and innovation.”

Other key provisions from the budget proposal include:

• Dedicated funding for mass transit to avoid SEPTA service cuts that would be devastating for the greater Philadelphia region and investing in smaller transit systems across the state like Pottstown’s PART that provide important connectivity and transportation options.
• Creating a new $30 million grant program to help fire companies invest in equipment, continue their operations, and keep communities safe.
• Funding to help recruit and retain workers in important professions facing workforce shortages including behavioral health care, child care, and nursing.