Panther Valley School District Superintendent David McAndrew is thankful Gov. Josh Shapiro made funding education a priority in his first budget address before the General Assembly Tuesday.

But McAndrew was hoping for more.

The governor’s $44.4 billion budget for 2023-2024 increases basic education $567 million, or 7.8%, while the state is projected to have a $7.4 billion surplus and $5 billion in its Rainy Day Fund, McAndrew said.

“Panther Valley and other low-wealth communities across the Commonwealth continue to face the consequences of public school funding with inadequate state funding,” he said following the address.

“There needs to be a greater sense of urgency,” McAndrew said. “We need money and we need it now.”

Last month, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer ruled the state’s school funding formula unconstitutional, saying students in poorer districts were not getting the same opportunities.

Panther Valley was among the school districts that sued seeking fair funding and won with that decision.

Shapiro called the judge’s ruling, “a call to action.”

The judge charged the state’s leaders to come up with a solution that ensures every child has access “to a thorough and efficient education,” he said.

“I am ready to meet you there,” Shapiro said, adding he already met with leading lawmakers from both parties and they are ready to work on a solution, but it won’t happen overnight.

“We must approach this responsibility with hope and ambition – because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to do right by our kids,” he said.

McAndrew said he looks forward to elected leaders working to change the unconstitutional system.

“I agree with Gov. Shapiro,” he said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to correct the funding issue.”

Last year, the state budget provided additional support for the Commonwealth’s deeply underfunded districts, like Panther Valley, through the Level Up program, McAndrew said.

“This one does not,” he said. “We are grateful for every dollar we receive and are hoping that our legislators see the urgency in doing their part to fix state funding for schools.”

The state teachers’ union president also said the governor’s budget prioritizes education, and $670 million in basic and special education funding “a significant down payment” toward a constitutional school funding system.

But PSEA President Rich Askey also stressed an urgency in working toward a solution.

“Gov. Shapiro is right to say that we need to be thoughtful and deliberative about this but aggressive at the same time,” he said.

“We’ve been grappling with problems related to Pennsylvania’s school funding system for a generation,” Askey said. “We’re not going to solve this problem overnight, but we must solve it. We need to do it soon, but we also need to do it right.”