Welcome back!
Welcome back from your summer break! We wish you an amazing school year filled with inspiring moments, meaningful connections, and the joy of helping your students grow. Thank you for your unwavering dedication—here’s to a fantastic year ahead!
In this issue:
- Pennsylvania Budget Standoff Delays $1.7 Billion in School Funding
- Teacher Workforce Growth
- Trump Administration Will Release Frozen Education Funding
- NASA TechRise Student Challenge
Pennsylvania Budget Standoff Delays $1.7 Billion in School Funding
Pennsylvania’s fiscal year began on July 1, 2025, without a state budget, halting over $1.7 billion in payments to public school districts, counties, mass transit agencies, and more. Gov. Josh Shapiro reported that negotiations are ongoing, but provided no details. The budget impasse, fueled by debates over a private school tuition voucher program and education funding increases, including $75 million for basic education, $40 million for special education, and $526 million in adequacy funding to address a 2023 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling on unconstitutional underfunding, continues to delay critical funds as schools prepare for the new academic year.
Teacher Workforce Growth
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) reports a positive trend in addressing educator shortages. In the 2023-24 school year, 97 more Instructional I certificates were issued compared to the previous year, with significant increases in PK-4 educators (793), health and physical education (85), and special education (762) over the past two years. Faster certification processing and student teacher stipends appear to be driving these gains. Over 3,000 aspiring educators applied for stipends within 24 hours of the 2025-26 application window that opened on March 6, 2025.
Trump Administration Will Release Frozen Education Funding
Earlier this month, the Trump administration released the rest of the nearly $7 billion in funding for public schools that it had frozen. The administration previously announced the release of $1.3 billion of the frozen funds. The nearly monthlong pause in critical funding set off a scramble in schools as they prepare for the fall and summer camps, which faced immediate impacts, with many worried about being able to keep their doors open for the duration of the summer. The funding for K-12 programs included money for teacher education and recruitment, English language programs, student enrichment and nonprofit learning centers that partner with schools, among other initiatives.
NASA TechRise Student Challenge
We’re excited to forward information from NASA about the 2025-26 NASA TechRise Student Challenge, a free opportunity for your 6th-12th grade students to design experiments for a NASA-sponsored suborbital flight, such as a rocket or high-altitude balloon. Opening in September, this challenge is open to teams of all skill levels and provides hands-on NASA project experience, free educational resources, and a virtual field trip. Sixty winning teams will receive $1,500 to build their experiments and technical support from NASA advisors. For more information, visit techrise@futureengineers.org.
