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How public education may be affected by the 2026 governor’s race

January 20, 2026

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Good evening everyone,

It’s Tuesday, Jan. 20th, and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report.

It’s that part of the winter where you can feel the days getting longer but it’s still bone-chillingly cold outside. So grab a blanket, cup of coffee, hot chocolate, or whatever you need to keep yourself warm.

Sean Kitchen,

Political Correspondent, The Keystone

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

With the 2026 election between Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity in full swing, I figured it may be worthwhile digging into key education issues that could arise over the course of their campaigns.

From funding the widely popular universal school breakfasts to chipping away at the funding gap between wealthier and poorer school districts, here’s a quick look at some of Shapiro’s highlights when it comes to public education.

In his first budget, Shapiro doubled the amount of funding for universal school breakfasts and found a permanent funding stream for the program after his predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf, started the program with leftover education funding in late 2022.
Increased funding for the Pennsylvania Student Teacher Support Program, which offers college students a stipend to complete their student teaching program with the promise of teaching in the commonwealth for three years after graduating.
Closed Pennsylvania’s multi-billion dollar education funding gap between wealthier and poorer school districts by continuing to increase “adequacy funding” over the previous two budgets. Last fall, Pennsylvania Senate Republicans attempted to pass a budget that left out the latest increase in education funding and this will most likely be a key issue over the next couple of years.

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Since we’re talking about education issues again in today’s newsletter, I thought it would be worth looking into Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s education stances.

Garrity has received over $700,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs) associated with billionaire Jeffrey Yass throughout her young political career, and she is unsurprisingly supporting the expansion of school vouchers, which diverts public resources to private and religious schools.

“ I hold one position that parents – not bureaucrats – make the best decisions for their child’s future,” Garrity told the Pennsylvania Press Club last week. “The only thing that Josh Shapiro has been consistent with is spending more and more of our tax dollars and with nothing to show for it. This past year, Josh Shapiro increased education spending by almost $900 million.”

As the Washington Post recently highlighted, vouchers are one of Yass’ top political priorities, and the megabillionaire believes that all students, regardless of how wealthy their families are, should be able to receive them.

US Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) found some bipartisan ground when it comes to President Donald Trump potentially purchasing Greenland. This comes when 500,000 Pennsylvanians are going to lose their healthcare with Trump’s budget cuts and the expiration of the ACA tax credits.
Long-time anti-vaxer, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will host a Make America Health Again rally in the Pennsylvania Capitol Rotunda starting at 11 AM on Wednesday. May be a good day to call out sick or work from home.
Corapolis, located outside of Pittsburgh, became the latest local government to end their 287(g) agreement with ICE, citing fear and distrust in local immigrant community as reasons for ending the agreement.

Demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue to spread throughout Pennsylvania. This past weekend, I went to a demonstration in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, where close to 100 residents from the area had their voices heard.

It’s always interesting to see demonstrations pop up in rural or “red leaning” parts of Pennsylvania. In the days following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Elizabethtown residents protesting his death were greeted by local militia members standing on rooftops of local businesses, holding semi-automatic rifles in an act of intimidation from local opposition.

According to attendees, Saturday’s rally was the first in the small college town since Floyd’s death, and residents from the area are demanding that their local and county governments end cooperation with ICE agents following Renee Good’s death.

We’ll have more about the ongoing ICE demonstrations as they continue to happen.