School funding inequity in Pa. is shameful

This newspaper has long been at the forefront of the argument for fair schools funding in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state Constitution guarantees every child a quality education regardless of wealth or address.

Now, two recent studies show the issue is about more than just zip code; it’s also a matter of black and white.

A report last Sunday by Digital First Media reporter Evan Brandt highlighted research which shows that the less white a district’s students are, the wider the funding gap in state basic education dollars.

The discovery was made by two separate fair funding advocacy groups as they began applying Pennsylvania’s new “fair funding formula” to the finances of the state’s 500 school districts, Brandt reported.

The findings came to light when researchers applied funding criteria to see what schools would get if fully funded.

Currently, the state only applies the funding formula to 6 percent of total school funding.

The researchers found that applying the formula to all state funding would significantly change the education dynamic in Pennsylvania for poorer districts, boosting state aid and, consequently, opportunity for students who generally begin school further down the learning curve than their wealthier peers, Brandt reported.

But they also found that race was even more of a factor than poverty in funding share.

One of the researchers called the findings “horrifying.”

Not only were poorer districts getting less than their fair share, the less white a poor district was, the worse the inequity.

The studies were conducted by POWER, a Philadelphia faith-based advocacy group and the Education Law Center.

A comparison between school districts in Pottstown in Montgomery County and Mahanoy City in Schuylkill County illustrated the point: Both have similar poverty levels and, according to the fair funding formula, both should be getting about the same amount of Basic Education Funding aid.

But when you look at actual state aid per student, Mahanoy, which is 84.5 percent white, is getting $6,913 per student and Pottstown, which is 39 percent white, is getting $3,173 per student.

This puts districts in diverse communities like Pottstown, Norristown and Chester on the losing end of state funding inequity.

“This absolutely angers me,” said Stephen Rodriguez, acting superintendent for Pottstown Schools. “It angers me for what opportunities it is robbing from our students and it angers me for the economic burden it is putting on this community.”

As Rodriguez pointed out, the issue is about much more than the students.

The entire community suffers from the gaps in state funding, creating a greater tax burden.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, wealthier districts are also shortchanged. Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford Area school districts are getting between $300 to $400 less per student than their fair share, according to the report.

If the entire basic education pot were divided according to the new student-weighted formula, a redistribution would occur in which $1.1 billion dollars would be taken from 350 districts and provided to the other 150 poorer districts.

And, the districts that stand to lose the most are those represented by powerful legislative leaders, including Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman R, Centre, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, and House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, according to a Keystone Crossroads study.

We can accept that the inequities happened over time with a Legislature that failed to change education funding, but there is now no excuse to enact reform.

The folks in Harrisburg know the system is shortchanging children who live in poor areas.

These recent studies show the system also shortchanges children by the racial makeup of their schools.

The current system is shameful and unacceptable. Our children’s futures depend on fixing the inequity of education funding in Pennsylvania.