96% of PA school districts see red

make waves

96% of PA school districts still in a hole

Education spending for the current year got a $108 million boost compared to last year, with Coatesville, SE Delaware County and Norristown saw increases of more than $1 million. While Philadelphia, with its 200,000 students, received the lions share of funds, Norristown, Phoenixville and Chester Upland actually received a larger percentage increase:

Percentage Increase for 2015-16
Chester Upland: 26.78%
Norristown: 9.09%
Phoenixville: 7.9%
Philadelphia: 7.55%

Like many districts across the state, the Philadelphia School District has poor credit. This week, financial watchdog Moody’s Investor Service affirmed PSD’s negative credit rating due to the uncertainty surrounding the state budget.

Uncertainty means more borrowing to cover underfunding. More borrowing, if that’s even an option for a district, with poor credit means more money for banks, less for students. Despite what some anti-tax legislators may wish, they’re not safeguarding our tax dollars—they’re costing us a fortune.

Last December, in the midst of negotiations of the current year’s budget, the Republican leadership in Harrisburg and Democrat Gov. Wolf hammered out a budget deal. Neither side of the ideological divide were entirely thrilled, which was a good sign. It was a sign of compromise, which, as the Franklin & Marshall College poll showed, is what 79% of voters actually want. It was a sign they were putting the needs and priorities of their constituents ahead of their respective parties.

The deal saw the largest increase in education spending in Pennsylvania history and would have put in place the long sought after bipartisan education funding formula.

But leadership ain’t what it used to be. While GOP leaders were confident they had a deal in hand that was in the best interest of the people of the Commonwealth, their membership had another idea: No deal at all.

Months later, the current year’s budget is now enacted (unsigned by Gov. Wolf), three months before the next fiscal year will begin. What the governor did sign, however, was a veto of the fiscal code that was to distribute funding, electing instead to restore those painful cuts of 2010-2011 to those districts, like Philadelphia, not yet fully restored.

So just how many of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts need to be made whole? 96% of them. Before Harrisburg descends into the rancor of next year’s budget debate, it seems reasonable that the legislature repair the terrible and disproportionate damage of the past before we hear any more about unfairness and inequality.

Polls have shown approval ratings for legislators have bottomed out with no sign of improving. And now Governor Wolf’s numbers are slipping too. Our elected officials must find a way to improve their own credibility ratings in a hurry or we’ll all continue to pay the price.


advocate and serveJump on any, or all, of the nine remaining Capitol Caravans we’re organizing to let our state reps know how they can help young children and our families with a budget that supports our priorities. SIGN UP


hashtag seriously“Once again, the governor has proven to have a total disregard for the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission formula that would have finally brought fairness and equity to our public schools,” House Majority Leader Dave Reed said, forgetting the unfair and scandalously unequal cuts some school districts endured in 2010-11 and are still reeling from. READ MORE


socially speakingKnow a (w)rec(k) center or public playground that City Council needs to see? What would quality pre-k mean for your family, business, neighborhood? Reach us on Twitter: @rkidsrworthit or Facebook: facebook.com/ourkidsareworthit


they got it right“The bottom line is the job effect is probably going to be pretty tiny. The quick and easy thing to do is to raise that as a fear. Everyone relates to jobs.” Robert Inman, Wharton’s Mellon professor of finance and public policy, calling Big Soda’s scare tactics about job losses a “red herring”. READ MORE