Deciding how to distribute the $5 billion in basic education funding that the state provides to its 500 school districts was the subject of a nearly year-long inquiry by the Basic Education Funding Commission, which issued its recommendations last June. We wrote about the Commission’s work on some key topics (here and here) and how the formula would affect the 43 school districts in Allegheny County (here).
The Governor and the General Assembly are now at differing perspectives on using the Commission formula under the fiscal code. Using the Governor’s proposal, $476 million in basic education funding would be divided among the 43 districts. Using the Basic Education Commission’s formula, $471.9 million would be divided, a difference of $4.2 million for 2015-16. Members of the Governor’s party in both chambers of the Legislature joined in passage of the fiscal code that utilizes the Commission formula for distributing the money. This document from the House Appropriations Committee shows how districts compare under the Commission formula and the Governor’s formula.
If the Governor’s formula were used, six districts–Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, Woodland Hills, Penn Hills, McKeesport, and Steel Valley–would receive more money than they would if the formula from the Basic Education Commission were used. Utilize the Commission formula, and 37 districts in the County receive more.
On a per-pupil basis, using 2013-14 enrollment data, Duquesne and West Mifflin would receive $100 or more under the Commission formula. Wilkinsburg would take a big decrease under the Commission formula (a drop of $2,631 per-pupil) but that makes some sense due to the closure of the Wilkinsburg middle and high school and the transfer of students to Pittsburgh Public Schools (the Commission amount would be $5,972 per-pupil).
