2023 Friend to Philly Kids
Michael Churchill and The Public Interest Law Center
After nearly a decade-long court battle, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled back in February that the state’s public-school funding method disproportionately harms students of color and those from low-wealth school districts. The ruling — which could upend how schools are funded in the state — was the culmination of relentless work by Churchill and Philly’s PILC. The case will almost certainly head to the state Supreme Court, but Churchill’s doggedness gave the students and families of Philadelphia and other low-wealth PA districts one concrete result: hope.