The Pennsylvania State Budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is being withheld due to an impasse—meaning that the state government was unable to finalize and agree on a budget plan by July 1st. This has caused a plethora of problems statewide, and education was no exception. PA’s public schools have missed out on $3.76 billion in payments just in the span of three months (July, August, and September). In response, our students protested on October’s early dismissal day with a walk-out.

Junior Thomas McCoy organized a walk out inspired by his IB Global Politics assessments to raise awareness about how the issues with the state budget are hurting not just McCaskey, but all of PA’s public schools.

In an interview with Kelly White, our assistant principal, she had some insight on how McCaskey has felt these effects directly. ”I do see the impact specifically on field trips, transportation for field trips, even things down to supplies and resources.”

Although she does not oversee the budget of the entire school, she directly oversees our CTE (Career and Technical Education) program, which is a hands-on program many students take advantage of to get a head start on their dream careers while still in high school. It’s an amazing opportunity, but the budget impasse has unfortunately affected students earning industry certifications and having access to the proper licenses and test exams.

More specifically, confusion about the federal budget has also slowed down schools even though the budget impasse is at the state level. This detail has been overlooked in news coverage, even though it worsens the strain on schools forced to rely on limited resources.

There have been multiple instances in the past where PA’s budget has been late, but never to this extent. It’s all become new territory once the budget for this fiscal year had still not been decided past 100 days of the June 30th deadline.

Regardless, McCaskey is working to stay as student-focused as possible so that the student body feels as few effects as possible. Ms. White wants to emphasize that students remain the priority. “We want to be able to provide as much for kids as we can. That means that the adult related priorities, like professional development for teachers, they’re just not happening right now.”

While we wait for the state budget to finally be agreed upon, “Students can express their concerns by urging parents and guardians to contact legislators and demand action.” Like the October 8th walkout, students can continue expressing their concerns in the ways that are available to us. This includes communicating with parents and guardians, to urge them to reach out to our legislators so they see how imperative it is that this issue be resolved as soon as possible.

This is not an ideal situation, but our administration is making sure that we will get through it. Ms. White wants everyone to know, “This is going to resolve itself and it’s going to ease a bit. So, we just need to be patient, but advocate.”