A representative from the Campaign for Fair Education Funding spoke to members of the Bethlehem Area School District board at a recent finance committee meeting.

Sandra Miller, Saucon Valley School District Director and a circuit rider for the campaign, gave the committee a quick overview of the campaign's purpose and backing.

Miller said backing from more than 40 diverse organizations whose goal to work toward sustainable, predictable, equitable and adequate funding. According to the campaign's website, www.fairfundingpa.org, some of the organization's backers include the AFL-CIO of PA, chambers of commerce from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, NAACP, League of Women Voters, as well as religious organizations, state legislators and charter and public schools.

"Pennsylvania doesn't have a funding formula," Miller said. "One out of three states are without one."

Efforts to develop a funding formula that distributes money evenly among small and large schools with varying tax bases has been difficult.

Among the campaign's goals is the work with the state general assembly "to insure a fair basic education funding formula," she said. It is advocating for accountability in the state government that the funds are used appropriately.

The campaign's website states, "Our goal is to ensure that every student has access to a quality education no matter where they live. To make that happen, we need to fundamentally change how public schools are funded. The current system is not fair to students or taxpayers and our campaign partners - 40 organizations from across Pennsylvania - agree that it has to be changed now. Student performance is stagnating. School districts are in crisis."

Miller explained that her job is as a grassroots circuit rider trying to drum up support from school districts as well as educate them about the campaign. Fair Funding's hope is to have a positive impact on funding for the 2015-2016 school year.

To learn more about the fair funding campaign, go to its website. Information is available about its mission, campaign members and getting involved.