Lower Merion families won't see a dramatic influx of state dollars despite Pennsylvania's largest education funding increase in years, because the new $50.8 billion state budget steers most of its $920 million in new school money toward the state's poorest districts.
Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the spending plan Sunday at the Capitol in Harrisburg. The budget includes $565 million in adequacy funding targeted at districts with the greatest shortfalls, a response to a 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling that found the state was illegally underfunding students by $4.5 billion.
Lower Merion School District, where the median household income tops $157,000 and 84% of revenue comes from local property taxes, sits on the opposite end of that formula. A PA Schools Work analysis of the 2025-26 proposal estimated LMSD would have received roughly $543,745 in new state funds under that year's formula. That figure offers a sense of scale but does not represent the 2026-27 allocation, which the Pennsylvania Department of Education has not yet published.
What LMSD budgeted — and what may shift
When the LMSD Board of School Directors approved a 3.5% tax increase on June 29, CFO Victor Orlando told the board the state figures used were based on the governor's February proposal because the state budget had not yet passed.
"We don't know when the budget will be approved," Orlando said at the time. "By law it's supposed to be June 30, but as what happened this year, it wasn't approved until November."
The state budget landed about 12 days past the constitutional deadline, a major improvement over last year's November impasse, which forced districts statewide to take out costly bridge loans. LMSD's 2026-27 budget anticipates slightly more than $53 million in state funding out of nearly $350 million in total spending.
Who voted how
The budget passed the state House with every Democrat voting yes and 35 Republicans voting no. State Reps. Mary Jo Daley (D-148) and Tim Briggs (D-149), whose districts cover Lower Merion, both voted in favor.
State Sen. Katie Muth (D-44), whose Montgomery County district includes portions of the surrounding area, voted against the general appropriations bill. Muth argued the legislature left revenue on the table by not taxing skill games or legalizing recreational cannabis.
"If we had pursued proposals in this chamber, we would have more to work with," Muth said on the Senate floor. "And we would not have to pass another mostly flat-funded and cost-to-carry budget."
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery County), who represents communities adjacent to Lower Merion, helped negotiate the final deal with Shapiro and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana), according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
What else is in the budget
The spending plan includes cybercharter reforms requiring weekly wellness checks for enrolled students. Cybercharters will no longer receive payments from districts for habitually truant students, a change that may lower LMSD's tuition payments to online schools. The budget also adds $10 million statewide for career and technical education and includes a pension increase for teachers who retired before 2001.
What's next
The LMSD Board of School Directors holds its next Regular Business Meeting in August at 7 p.m. in the Administration Building Board Room on the Lower Merion High School campus. Families can check the specific date at LMSD.org/board.
