Coal region, city districts most in need

‘Level Up’ formula has Reading as most underfunded; Allentown 6th

HARRISBURG — Some of the most storied names in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region — Shenandoah and Nanticoke — appear right up there with cities such as Reading and Allentown in a new listing of the most underfunded school districts in the state.

It’s an illustration, state lawmakers say, of balance in the “Level Up” approach that was used recently to determine which school districts need the most financial help.

The approach from Level Up, a coalition of education advocacy organizations, produced a list of the 100 most underfunded districts that was endorsed by political leaders. Those districts are now getting extra money in the new school year.

While Reading ranks first, Lebanon second and Allentown sixth on the list, Shenandoah Valley ranks fourth, Greater Nanticoke fifth and Panther Valley — which straddles the Carbon/Schuylkill County line and includes the borough of Coaldale — ranks 12th.

Democratic Sen. Judy Schwank represents Reading, the district with the greatest financial need among all 500 statewide.

“It is a low-income city. The tax base has not been there for many, many years. And the population is growing,” Schwank said.

At the same time, she said, the coal region districts “have been frankly starving to death” financially for years, she said.

Republican Rep. Tim Twardzik of Schuylkill County said, “In these older mining towns, the property values have dropped significantly as populations have shifted.”

Twardzik, whose district includes Shenandoah Valley, said blighted properties stop producing taxes and to compensate, the districts are forced to raise property millage. Those higher tax rates in turn discourage new construction, Twardzik said.

A new perspective

The Level Up formula relies on existing data on school districts’ poverty levels, English as a Second Language and special education students, and charter school enrollments to produce a “weighted student count.”

Each district’s spending is divided by that weighted student count to give a “current expenditures per weighted student” figure that is compared to all other districts.

The biggest difference between Level Up and existing funding methods is Level Up’s greater consideration of special education, according to Kate Philips, spokesperson for Level Up.

Lehigh Valley Democratic Rep. Mike Schlossberg introduced a bill based on Level Up’s approach in April.

Lawmakers did not coalesce around getting Level UP into the budget until last week, when it was agreed that it would be applied to $100 million of the $300 million spending increase going to basic education.

Overall spending on basic education statewide is more than $7 billion.

“This is not a city exclusive plan. Dozens of the districts helped by Level Up are deeply rural,” Schlossberg said.

He said 78 of the 100 districts are at least partly represented by Republicans, while only 52 are at least partly represented by Democrats.

Andrew Armagast, director of analytics & advocacy for the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, said pockets of poverty identified within school districts by Census data help drive the Level Up formula.

The tax base of a district is another factor.

The reasons individual districts make the list, Armagast said, vary from one to the next.

Money and efficiency

Schlossberg hopes the application of Level Up to state education funding will be expanded in the future.

Republican Rep. Doyle Heffley praised the formula, but said state leaders also have to make sure school districts are being efficient in spending.

For instance, he said, the pandemic showed some education can be done online. With the resulting need for less staff, Heffley said, districts could “maybe not have so much payroll.”

He represents part of Panther Valley, which he said runs “a rather lean operation out of necessity.”

The coal industry, he said, has largely vanished in the area, which has in turn taken away a significant portion of the tax base and left it less diverse than than those in other, wealthier districts.

Level Up, Heffley said, is “a good step to get some of those underfunded districts like Panther Valley more resources.”