Pa. schools are broken. The outcome of the funding lawsuit won’t change that.

Last month, lawyers made their closing arguments in Pennsylvania’s historic school funding lawsuit. Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer now must consider the ultimate question of what it means for the commonwealth to actually live up to its constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs” of its children.

From what I’ve seen so far from both sides on this issue, I’m not convinced that the outcome of the trial, whatever it is, will be enough to save our schools.

The trial has had its fair share of jaw-dropping moments from the GOP — “What use would someone on the McDonald’s career track have for Algebra 1?” John Krill, the attorney for state Republicans, asked in court proceedings earlier this year. But while the self-described progressives of our state (and our country, in fact) certainly know how to hum a nice tune about equity and fairness, I see only liberal lip service and sentiment, but little action to address the institutional inequality and racism that remain a constant feature of our schools.

“I see only liberal lip service and sentiment, but little action.”

Long before the trial began, progressives have had many opportunities to help rectify these inequalities, but have failed to act.

Consider that Pennsylvania provides less state funding to schools than the vast majority of other states. This creates a fundamental connection between school funding and property taxes/values, which ensures that, for years, Black children in poorer neighborhoods have only had access to poorly funded schools. This is on full display, in the crumbling school buildings and poorly ventilated classrooms in certain districts, but not others.

Progressives won’t call Black children second-class citizens, yet how can we see otherwise, when they let this blatant form of racism and inequality persist for so long?

As Judge Jubelirer rightly observed in court, “Just looking at the inputs isn’t going to tell you if the system is meeting its goals.” Indeed, equitable funding is necessary, but not nearly enough to ensure a just and equitable system of public education.

» READ MORE: Pa. school funding is ‘inadequate,’ ‘inequitable,’ and ‘illogical,’ court hears as landmark trial closes

Yes, the state must develop a formula that funds schools more equitably. But to achieve educational and racial justice, we must interrogate the inequity and bias that is endemic to all of the education system — top to bottom. That includes how we assign students to schools, how wealth and privilege permit choice for some while others are locked into generational failure, and the scarcity of teachers equipped with the skills, knowledge, and cultural understanding to support low-income students of color. White teachers often have an unconscious bias of low expectations for their Black and brown students; extra money in the school budget won’t change that.

Amid the ongoing effort to more equitably fund school systems, we should complement such top-down efforts with bottom-up work. We should look at how the work in our classrooms themselves, the halls of our very school buildings, are sustaining and reinforcing the inequities that we seek to undo on a broader level. That will require a lot more than a book club or professional development day focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We need deep, sustained, ongoing professional learning and coaching that’s culturally informed and based on a solid understanding of how all students learn. It will require creating space and time in the school day and week for feedback loops that include kids, parents, colleagues, and supervisors. Educators at all levels should be asking everyone they touch the following: “How are you experiencing my leadership?”

Students need fair funding, and the courts will hopefully see that soon. In the meantime, we need to take a hard look at the other 90% of the system, policies, and practices that touch that funding system in our public schools. All students require something approaching a just and equitable education, and they deserve to get it sooner rather than later.

Sharif El-Mekki leads the Center for Black Educator Development. He was a teacher and principal in the School District of Philadelphia and is the former principal of Mastery Charter School — Shoemaker Campus. He founded the Fellowship — Black Male Educators for Social Justice, is a member of the “8 Black Hands” podcast, and blogs at Philly’s 7th Ward.