Pennsylvania enacts a bipartisan $48.3B state budget allocating historic funding increases for public school adequacy, economic development, and public transit.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Governor Josh Shapiro signed Pennsylvania's $48.3 billion general appropriations budget into law, delivering the largest single-year state investment in public basic education in Commonwealth history.
The enacted budget provides a $1.11 billion total increase for K-12 education, including $526 million directed to underfunded school districts through the state's newly established adequacy funding formula, $225 million for school facility environmental repairs, and $100 million for student mental health services.
"We came together across party lines to prove divided government can deliver commonsense solutions for the people of Pennsylvania," Shapiro stated in the Capitol rotunda.
The budget also directs $500 million toward site development to attract major manufacturing and technology employers, alongside an immediate $160 million state stabilization grant for public transit agencies including SEPTA in Philadelphia and PRT in Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education began releasing updated state subsidy allocations to the Commonwealth's 500 school districts immediately following certification.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels have instituted a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative artificial intelligence across public schools from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, prioritizing foundational critical thinking while testing supervised high school pilot curricula.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that more than half of all public school districts statewide—exceeding 400 districts—will offer free, full-day Pre-Kindergarten this academic year, supported by record state foundation aid and early childhood investments.

Houston ISD Division Superintendent Orlando Riddick, who joined on the first day of the state takeover under Mike Miles, resigns amid ongoing community debate over district reforms.
