PUSD Trustee Harden to Host Public Education Funding Forum on Tuesday

Community event aims to address financial challenges and advocate for better school funding

Scott Harden, Pasadena Unified School District Board Trustee for District 4, will host a community forum titled “Public Education Funding 101” on Tuesday at James Madison Elementary School. The event aims to educate families and supporters about how public schools are funded and to discuss strategies for advocating for public schools amid financial challenges facing the district.

“As you’re aware, this year has been a volatile one for our state and national economy, but also for our public schools as well,” said Harden in an email.

“On top of experiencing disruption and loss from our recent Eaton fire, our local Pasadena Unified schools have had to make painful, significant cuts to teaching and staff positions that threaten the programs and services our students have come to rely on.”

The forum will take place May 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of James Madison Elementary School, located at 515 E Ashtabula St, Pasadena. Refreshments and Spanish interpretation will be provided for attendees.

Harden, who was elected in 2024, emphasized the importance of community involvement in addressing funding challenges.

“Let’s discuss what we can do together to advocate for better funding in order to ensure that our District can persevere through tough fiscal times and emerge stronger for the long term,” he stated.

The timing of the forum follows Governor Gavin Newsom’s May 15 release of an updated $322 billion spending plan for 2025-26. The plan aims to close a $12 billion deficit at the state level while maintaining funding for critical K-12 programs. Despite these efforts, school districts across California continue to face financial challenges tied to declining enrollment, rising operational costs, and smaller-than-anticipated cost-of-living adjustments.

California spends only 3.2% of taxpayer income on K–12 education despite being the world’s sixth-largest economy, creating a funding gap that local advocacy aims to address.

At a special joint meeting between the City of Pasadena and PUSD on May 12, Harden suggested forming task forces to address shared challenges.

“Let’s identify common problems and solve them together. And it persists way beyond the problems of this year and next year,” he said during that meeting.

Harden, a father of two PUSD students who has been with the district since 2012, has held various leadership positions within the District’s Parent Teacher Associations.

The forum comes shortly after Harden spent a day on Capitol Hill in late April 2025, as indicated by his social media post on April 30, showing his engagement in advocacy at the federal level. Additionally, the Pasadena Unified School District Community Advisory Committee will meet on May 19 at the Education Center, just one day before Harden’s forum.

Those interested in attending can RSVP at https://www.hardenforpusd.com/forum.