Why Pennsylvania Needs Fair Education Funding: Part 2

I’m teaming up with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding to speak out for students across Pennsylvania. Although I am receiving some form of compensation, my opinions remain my own. #FairFundingPA

Today, the Campaign for Fair Education Funding — along with hundreds of parents, students, teachers, and community leaders from across the state — will rally for fair education funding at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. Follow #FairFundingPA on Twitter for live updates.

Earlier this month, I wrote about the Campaign for Fair Funding and why Pennsylvania’s current education funding system needs a drastic overhaul. As I mentioned in that post, this is a critical issue. PA is one of only three states in this entire country that does not have a Basic Education Funding formula to distribute dollars fairly and predictably among school districts. Moreover, PA has the widest funding gap between rich and poor school districts in the nation.

To add more insight into this subject, I connected with Jamie Baxter, the director of legislative policy and advocacy at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. The AIU is the largest intermediate unit in the commonwealth, providing educational services to 42 suburban school districts, five vocational technical schools and three schools for exceptional children. The AIU employs more than 1,800 teachers at approximately 400 sites.CFEF_2_icon

Below, Jamie clearly explains the problems with the current system, and why all citizens of PA – whether they have children or not – should be concerned with this funding crisis.

How are funds currently distributed among school districts?
Currently, the Basic Education Funding line item is the largest amount of state dollars directed to school districts and the distribution is unpredictable and unstable. District allocations start with what they received the previous fiscal year, and additional dollars are distributed based on political whim. This can include specific supplements and percentages for districts, but how those levels and distribution is determined is an annual decision made by the General Assembly. Unfortunately, through this process, legislators can and have developed specific weights/formulas to send additional dollars to specific districts throughout the Commonwealth.

Why does PA’s current education funding system need an overhaul?
The current formula does not reflect growing enrollment in districts, or the need for additional support in our struggling districts. Since the distribution is typically based on last year’s levels, if a district grows considerably over the years, or if they have an increase in the population of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, the BEF dollars can never catch up and accurately reflect the changes in populations in those districts.

Also, since a district cannot “plug in” their numbers to get an estimate funding allocation (like you could with a definitive formula), the amount and weights of supplements and percentages change from year to year, and there is no predictability as to what a district will receive in the following year. This makes it very difficult for districts to budget and plan for the upcoming school year.

However, a formula change alone is not the only fix. A large influx of BEF dollars are needed to ensure that everyone receives additional money and that those funds are based on student count and economic need.

Why should the average citizen be concerned that PA does not currently have a Basic Education Funding formula?
A formula that reflects student count and economic need is crucial. Without equity, all of our communities suffer and the gap between the “haves and have nots” continue to grow. We should all ban together to advocate for fair, stable and adequate dollars to all of our schools.

Also, without an increase in funds or a fair funding formula, our property tax rates will continue to rise, since districts cannot rely on state funds, and districts must utilize local dollars to supplement the lack of state funding.

PA is one of only three states that don’t have a Basic Education Funding formula in place. In your opinion, why has the state of PA been so “late to the party”?
According to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the amount of state dollars directed towards districts and ranks 8th in its reliance on local tax dollars. The state contributes less than 35 percent towards school funding. This means that when districts that do not have a strong real estate tax base, their overall funding is most likely lower than those districts that have a very strong local tax effort.

While the state does help to supplement some of those struggling schools, the costs to those districts are significant. (You can read more about this issue in the Centre Daily Times.)

To be honest, I’m not sure why Pennsylvania is so “late to the party.” In the past, there has been interest and attempts to sustain a funding formula, but it just seems to have never “stuck” (due to many things, such as a loss of federal funding dollars that were supplanted – a whole other story!) As the gap continues to grow between our wealthy and poorer schools, our property tax rates continue to grow, and funding is not aligned with instructional costs; this is the “perfect storm” to develop a predictable, stable formula.

Why do expenditures per student vary so much from school district to school district?
Student needs vary greatly from district to district. In districts where population has decreased, we see an increase of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. The wrap-around services needed for those students are rather costly and we see our struggling districts having to tax their small number of property owners at a higher rate and relying on a larger percentage of state spending.

Meanwhile, in our wealthier areas, while population has increased, funds remain rather stagnant and the district relies on parents and other outside local providers to help supplement the lack of state funding.

Other items, such as charter school tuition payments, homeless students, large numbers of English language learners, charter school funding, technology, the exceptional growing rates of pension contributions and health care costs all contribute to the lack of appropriate dollars in all districts.

How do charter school costs affect public school funding issues?
In Pennsylvania’s traditional public schools, the costs associated with sending a child to a charter school is quite high and has a huge negative impact on that school district. Districts pay tuition to charter schools based on their student cost, with a few exemptions; many advocates believe the cost should be how much it actually costs a charter school to educate a student within their building/program. Also, the tuition cost applies to brick-and-mortar charters as well as cyber charters. So, say school A spends on average $15,000 per student, and school B spends $10,000/student. Both of those funds go to the charter school (including cyber) for the same education.

This might make sense on paper, but when you think about how that one student left [a public school], but the expenses in the home school district do not change – they still need to have an instructor in the classroom, they still need to have the lights on, etc. That $15,000 is a huge loss to that school district. This is very evident in districts that pay out significant funds to charter schools and are part of a vicious cycle. In most cases, students are leaving the home school for a charter because of greater academic opportunities in that charter, but because of the large amount of funds leaving the district, the district does not have the means to increase their academic opportunities and are unable to compete– so more students leave the district, and so on. These costs have very negative impacts on our most struggling schools and change is needed!

How could this change in formula impact the districts that fall under the AIU?
Without specific tables, it is hard to tell. In Allegheny County, we have districts that have seen a large increase in population and districts that have lost a large amount of students and those students who remain require many costly services. Until adequate funding is distributed in a meaningful way, a hold harmless is needed to ensure that no district has a reduction in funds. (To learn more, read the testimony that the AIU Executive Director delivered on population in Allegheny County.)

In your opinion, why do PA citizens need to be aware of this issue, even if they don’t have children?
Good schools impact all of us and grow strong communities. Schools cannot continue to improve and grow without adequate funding distributed in a fair and equitable manner. These funds are needed to ensure that ALL students have the opportunity to become college and career ready and prepared for the 21st century global economy.

Finally, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association has a great white paper on the current funding crisis and why a new formula is needed. I highly recommend checking it out: The Need for a New Basic Education Funding Formula

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