State must step up and increase education funding

By now, most Delaware County residents have recovered from the stickershock of their property value reassessments. Those who haven’t have until Sept. 1 to file an appeal. Either way, without knowing the millage rates, one can only speculate as to how much (if at all) their taxes will change – a situation frustrating homeowners, buyers, sellers and real estate professionals alike.

Generally speaking, reassessments (and any relative tax increase) are good

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for property owners, who benefit from a fair basis by which their taxes are calculated, and municipalities, which are duty-bound to ensure that their tax revenue meets their communities’ needs. That said, however, property owners and real estate brokers should still be frustrated, because the county-wide reassessment won’t solve one of our biggest problems: underfunded public schools.

Since state-level education funding is not keeping pace with local funding needs, the most economically depressed communities within our County, those not buoyed by rising property values, will need to brace themselves for further school property tax increases in the years following the reassessment. The consequences of underfunding education year after year are real — and immediate. When the state fails to meet the needs of our schools, local property taxes must compensate, but, as the data shows, said property tax increases do not meet the educational needs of our children. And, as we fail these children, we fail entire communities. Homeowners in chronically underfunded districts ultimately

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see their home values decrease.

School districts in Delaware County and southeast Pennsylvania are not alone. Three hundred school districts, about 60% of the total in the state, will experience funding shortfalls over the next few years that will result in “limited opportunities for their students”, according to a recent Temple University study. These limited opportunities for students will spell trouble for homeowners across the state. This downward trend is a direct result of the Commonwealth failing to do its share when newsroom@delcotimes.com

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it comes to funding public education. Unsurprisingly, Pennsylvania ranks 44th in the country in the state’s share of funding for public schools.

The state must step to the plate in a big way so that communities, especially those with the weakest real estate values and poorest residents, don’t continue to bear the school funding burden with additional property tax hikes or worse to protect students from cuts that harm instruction and opportunity. The quality of our public schools is inextricably connected to the resources

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available to educate our students. And, it’s a key driver in housing choices and community stability.

Every homeowner, with or without children attending public school, is harmed by one common factor, an underfunded, low-performing local school. The state must increase its funding for public schools. In doing so, every homeowner, every resident, every community and every student will reap the benefit.

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