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Hello! It’s Rebecca from Chalkbeat Philly.
Pennsylvania school districts will receive $11.8 billion next year in the state budget Gov. Josh Shapiro signed over the weekend. That’s a $670 million increase from last year, including more money for career training programs and special education.
But Shapiro didn’t didn’t get the early education funding boost or statewide school cellphone ban he sought. Advocates say more funding is still necessary for literacy and early childhood education.
“We would not get up from the table in Harrisburg until we fully funded public education,” Shapiro said during a visit to Philly’s Vare-Washington School yesterday.
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Local News
Pennsylvania state budget includes $157 million more for Philadelphia’s schools
The budget also directs more funding to career training programs and special education. But it does not include the cellphone ban sought by Josh Shapiro.
Around Chalkbeat
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The post-pandemic learning crisis has drawn media and policy attention, but voters are prioritizing other issues.
Newark’s new workforce program wants young adults to master AI before the job market demands it
Hopeworks Newark thinks young workers are AI’s biggest winners in today’s job market.
Anthropic unveils Claude for Teachers, joining OpenAI and Google in race to dominate classroom AI
Anthropic launched Claude for Teachers, joining Google, OpenAI, and Khan Academy as tech companies compete to become the go-to classroom AI for educators.
What We’re Reading
Some Philly special-needs students are waiting hours this summer for buses that never come, The Philadelphia Inquirer (Paywall)
Pa.’s public school code puts a priority on student safety, mental health, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
For less than $100, I clicked my way toward a college degree in days, The Washington Post (Paywall)




