Summary of State Appropriations for Education
The following file contains a summary of the funding levels for the state education appropriations in Governor Shapiro’s proposed 2025-26 fiscal year budget.
2025-26 Proposed Summary of State Appropriations (Excel)
Basic Education Funding
Governor Shapiro’s proposed 2025-26 fiscal year budget includes $8,232,444,000 for the Basic Education Funding appropriation. This amount is a $75,000,000 (0.92%) increase over the 2024-25 enacted fiscal year appropriation to continue sustained investment in school district basic education programs.
Ready to Learn Block Grant
Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 Proposed Budget includes $1,347,500,000 for the Ready to Learn Block Grant. This amount is a $526,000,000 increase (64.03%) over the 2024-25 fiscal year appropriation. The proposed budget includes:
- $818,405,000 for Ready To Learn Block Grant Foundation
- $526,000,000 to provide an additional adequacy adjustment for K-12 education
2025-26 Proposed Ready to Learn Block Grant (Excel)
Special Education Funding
Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 Proposed Budget includes $1,526,815,000 for the Special Education appropriation. This amount is a $40,000,000 increase (2.69%) over the 2024-25 fiscal year appropriation.
For the Special Education Funding component, new dollars after the 2013-2014 fiscal year total approximately $467,500,000.
2025-26 Proposed Special Education Funding (Excel)
2024-25 Preliminary Special Education Funding (Excel)
The proposed 2025-26 fiscal year Special Education appropriation also includes funding of approximately $111,779,175 for the following components, per Pennsylvania School Code: Special Education Contingency Fund, Core Services funding to Intermediate Units, Institutionalized Children's Program funding, special education for wards of state students, and special education for students placed out of state.
Cyber Charter Transition
The Enacted 2024-25 fiscal year budget includes $100,000,000 for the Cyber Charter Transition appropriation to reimburse school districts for the cost of tuition paid to cyber charter schools.
2024-25 Preliminary Cyber Charter Transition (Excel)
Secondary Career and Technical Education Subsidy
Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 fiscal year proposed budget includes approximately $123,540,000 for the Secondary Career and Technical Education Subsidy.