“Children in property and income poor districts are denied the opportunity to receive even an adequate education, while their peers in property and income rich districts enjoy a high quality education”. That’s the thrust of a lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court that seeks to address the state’s method of funding K-12 public education. It is a topic we have written about twice this year (here and here). The lawsuit wants a new funding formula to be granted by the courts.
The lawsuit cites the example of two districts, Panther Valley (Carbon County) and Lower Merion (Montgomery County). The former raised $5,646 per pupil from local sources, the latter raised $23,709 per pupil from local sources. The state’s contribution to the districts favors Panther Valley, with $6,376 going to that district and $2,991 going to Lower Merion. Combined, the revenue per pupil is $12,022 to $26,700.
An example closer to home in Allegheny County between Fox Chapel ($15,350 from local, $3,005 from state, total $18,355) and McKeesport ($3,745 local, $8,922 state, $12,667 total) presents the difficulty in arriving at an equitable solution. The state gives nearly three times the amount per pupil to McKeesport than it does for Fox Chapel; in fact, McKeesport receives more state money per pupil than 40 other districts in the County.
If the state were to commit to funding 50% of the total amount per pupil in these districts McKeesport would have to take a $2,000 cut while Fox Chapel would receive about $6,000 more. Or the state could take away any state appropriation to Fox Chapel and demand that the district reduce its property tax rate so that the local amount per pupil fell by $2,000. Or it could decide on a number for per pupil funding statewide and the state could fund 100% of that amount while prohibiting any and all school district taxing power.
