Around 2 yesterday afternoon, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym and about a dozen protesters were arrested by Capitol police in Harrisburg while calling for an increase in education funding. But according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, Pennsylvania is 8th in the nation in education funding, with more than $18,000 per student going to districts according to their 2018 data. That number has now increased to over $19,000, according to new figures. The national average is about $14,000.
Even when accounting for inflation, education funding in Pennsylvania has consistently increased for decades, up 68% since 1990 and 28% since 2012. The state has directed an even higher share of spending to higher poverty districts. Updated data from the Pa. Department of Education shows that Pa. School Districts ended the 2019-2020 fiscal year with $4.84 billion in reserve funding. Additionally, Pennsylvania school districts are on track to receive almost $6.2 billion in federal COVID-19 aid. Even after accounting for a worst-case scenario of local tax revenue loss and average PPE costs, school districts still have an excess of $9.1 billion in reserves and federal funding, or $6,000 per student. To see just what the figures are for local schools in Blair County…. or any school district statewide for that matter… visit www.lightnercommunications.com and look for this story under the NEWS heading, where we have posted a link to the data.
