A poll commissioned by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center of 1,100 residents show that 83 percent believe full funding of K-12 public schools is a top or important priority and 56 percent said the Legislature spends too little on education.

Reunifying foster children with their families is the primary goal of foster care. If that’s not possible, permanency is sought — connecting children with foster families willing to take on a new member through adoption or legal guardianship.

A bi-partisan package of eight bills that aims to address business and industry workforce shortages and alleviate the mis-perception attached to career and technical education won House approval on Monday.

In the past two years, Allegheny County Children Youth and Families has seen the number of calls to its ChildLine abuse and neglect hotline rise by around 20 percent, with a similar increase in the number of kids placed in the custody of someone other than their parents. The opioid epidemic is driving those numbers.

It’s no coincidence the rise in children ordered into foster care came amid the spike in the ongoing heroin and prescription opioid crisis in Pennsylvania and nationwide. The state House passed a package of legislative proposals in April looking to assist an estimated 82,000 grandparents who care for about 89,000 grandchildren.