Gov. Rendell’s Basic Education Funding proposal for 2008-09 represents a change from the way school districts have been funded in Pennsylvania for the last 15 years.

Responding to the results of the state’s first costing-out study, the governor proposed a six-year $291.3 million plan that includes the study’s findings on cost per student, weightings for students living in poverty and students who are English language learners, as well as supplements for student enrollment and school district location. Unfortunately, the governor’s proposal does not include the study’s weightings for special needs students; however PSBA believes the proposal is a good first start towards the implementation of a more equitable, adequate and predictable system of school funding for Pennsylvania. The governor’s proposal also contains new “accountability” provisions.

Much of the advocacy work that PSBA has done on the funding issues has been through the Pennsylvania School Finance Campaign. This coalition of over 20 organizations was formed last October to respond to the results of the costing out study and to develop and implement a funding plan for the 2008-09 fiscal year that reflected the results of the study. As one of the founding members of PSFC, PSBA believed that the results of the study were too important to have different organizations espousing different views and opinions about how best to use them. The campaign also established that any new funding formula would have to address the principles of equity, adequacy, efficiency, accountability and predictability.

One of the first tasks for the campaign was to develop a funding formula based on the results of the Study. The so-called PASSET (Pennsylvania Adequacy in School Spending and Equity in Taxation) funding plan was shared with the administration in December and with the PSBA Board of Directors at its meeting in January. This proposal would have added an additional $5.7 billion to the state’s Basic Subsidy System over a five-year period and brought the state’s share of reimbursement to 50% of funding.  The first year (2008-09) called for the addition of $1.1 billion to public education. The proposal also combined over 20 current line items in the education budget into one and provided for property tax relief as well.

Once the governor’s budget proposal was unveiled in early February, PSFC closely studied the proposal and how it compared with the PASSET proposal. Although the PASSET proposal gave districts more dollars over a shorter period of time and was designed to help more districts more quickly, it was agreed that because the governor’s plan adopted many of the concepts contained in the costing-out study and because it met the principles that the campaign established, it was agreed that the governor’s proposal, while not perfect, was a good first start to repair the broken system of education funding in Pennsylvania. The campaign identified four improvements to the governor’s proposal that it felt must be addressed.

These recommendations continue to be the topics of discussion with legislators at the Capitol and in their districts:

1. To increase the minimum funding increase (called “transition funding” in the governor’s proposal) from 1.5% to 2%,

2. To change how the state’s share of funding is calculated in the governor’s proposal  - by using every district’s full aid ratio to determine that share, not the aid ratio and equalized mills – a measure of local tax effort. The consequence of using a district’s aid ratio and equalized mills is that many of the state’s poorer districts receive the minimum increase of 1.5%. The Campaign believes that state share should be determined by using only a district’s aid ratio, not a combination of aid ratio and equalized mills.

3. The Campaign believes that the language that incorporates the governor’s funding proposal must also contain a commitment to addressing special education funding, which continues to be a growing cost for school districts.

4. The governor’s proposed “accountability” language must limit any new requirements to those school districts are not making AYP, and not include school districts that are making AYP or only have school buildings that are identified for improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act.

How can you help?

School board members can help the campaign in several ways. First, you can check the campaign’s web site: www.paschoolfunding.org to see if any campaign events have been scheduled for your area and attend those events to advocate for a change in Pennsylvania’s school funding system. Second, if there are no local events scheduled for your area, you can become an area organizer and plan an event. Simply contact the Campaign headquarters and let them know you’re interested in becoming an area leader. You can also endorse the campaign as an individual or have your school board endorse it. The more names behind the campaign, the more influence we will have with your legislators.

Moving from the current “non-system” of education funding where the amount of spending is based on what is available, along with some loosely defined supplements that change every year to a funding system that defines how much districts should be getting every year is the most important decision that the General Assembly can make this spring. We need your help to make it happen.