neither thorough nor efficient: school funding inequity in pennsylvania
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NEITHER THOROUGH NOR EFFICIENT: SCHOOL FUNDING INEQUITY IN PENNSYLVANIA. David Sciarra Education Law Center. Pa. State Conference of NAACP Conference on Education, May 25, 2012 . The Right to Education . - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Education Law CenterStanding Up for Public School Children
NEITHER THOROUGH NOR EFFICIENT: SCHOOL FUNDING INEQUITY IN
PENNSYLVANIADavid Sciarra
Education Law Center
Pa. State Conference of NAACPConference on Education, May 25, 2012
The Right to Education
• The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.” Pa. Const. art. 3, § 14.
What is “Fair” School Funding?
“Fair” school funding is defined as a state finance system that provides a sufficient level of funding to ensure equality of educational opportunity, with funding distributed to districts within the state to account for additional needs generated by student poverty.
Fair School Funding: Core Principles
• States should provide varying levels of funding to ensure equal educational opportunities to children with different needs.
• A “progressive” finance system allocates more funding to districts with high levels of student poverty; a “regressive” system allocates less to those districts; and a “flat” system allocates roughly the same across districts with varying needs.
Stat
e &
Loc
al R
even
ue p
er P
upil
Low Poverty High Poverty
State A (Low revenue, poverty “flat”)
State B (Avg. implicit base rev., highly regressive)
State C (Avg. implicit base rev., progressive)
0% Poverty 10% Poverty 20% Poverty 30% Poverty$5,000
$7,000
$9,000
$11,000
$13,000
$15,000
$17,000
$19,000
$21,000
Indiana
Michigan
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Census Poverty Rate
Stat
e &
Loc
al R
even
ue p
er P
upil
Midwest
0% Poverty 10% Poverty 20% Poverty 30% Poverty$5,000
$7,000
$9,000
$11,000
$13,000
$15,000
$17,000
$19,000
$21,000
Delaware
Maryland
New Jersey
New York
Census Poverty Rate
Stat
e &
Loc
al R
even
ue p
er P
upil
Mid-Atlantic
North Central
0% Poverty 10% Poverty 20% Poverty 30% Poverty$5,000
$7,000
$9,000
$11,000
$13,000
$15,000
$17,000
$19,000
$21,000
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Census Poverty Rate
Stat
e &
Loc
al R
even
ue p
er P
upil
0% Poverty 10% Poverty 20% Poverty 30% Poverty$5,000
$7,000
$9,000
$11,000
$13,000
$15,000
$17,000
$19,000
$21,000
Alabama
Louisiana
Mississippi
Texas
Census Poverty Rate
Stat
e &
Loc
al R
even
ue p
er P
upil
Gulf Coast
State Funding Distribution: Top 10
State At 0% Poverty
At 30% Poverty High/Low Grade
Utah $5,772 $9,157 159% A
New Jersey $13,961 $19,805 142% A
Ohio $8,993 $12,301 137% A
Minnesota $10,026 $13,043 130% B
Massachusetts $12,598 $15,550 123% B
South Dakota $7,794 $9,326 120% B
Indiana $10,137 $11,951 118% C
Connecticut $14,468 $16,855 117% C
Montana $8,577 $9,986 116% C
Delaware $12,125 $13,884 115% C
State Funding Distribution: Bottom 10
State At 0% Poverty
At 30% Poverty High/Low Grade
Pennsylvania $13,788 $12,302 89% D
Maine $12,914 $11,472 89% D
Alabama $9,702 $8,551 88% D
New York $18,702 $16,286 87% D
Missouri $9,886 $8,571 87% D
North Dakota $10,774 $8,577 80% F
North Carolina $11,111 $8,699 78% F
New Hampshire $13,958 $10,849 78% F
Illinois $11,312 $8,707 77% F
Nevada $10,561 $7,974 76% F
Does Federal Funding Matter?
• Less than 10% of school funding is federal funds
• Too small to have any effect on Fairness• Title 1, RTT, etc.: “Subsidizing Inequity”• New direction: drive states to make
underlying finance systems fair
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
38
40
A B C D F
Fairness Index Grade
NAEP
Pro
ficie
ncy
2007
Does Fair Funding Mean Better Student Outcomes?
Gov. Corbett’s Cuts
Inequity Philly Style
Takeaways
• Fair School Funding: Essential precondition to reform efforts to close achievement gaps
• Key to Effective Teaching, Closing Gaps• Urgent need for state school finance reform • “Resistance is Deep” • New Federal Policies: Title I and Federal Grants
to leverage states to improve funding fairness
And While We’re At It.... • Access to high quality Pre-K for every low
income child, and every child in a low income community
• State Pre-K Systems: unify Head Start, Child Care and Public School Pre-K
• Right to attend school in safe and educationally adequate facilities
• State capital program – assess need, ensure financing
David Sciarra, Esq.Executive Director
For More Information:
60 Park Place, Suite 300Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: 973.624.1815 Fax: 973.624.7339
Education Law CenterStanding Up for Public School Children
www.edlawcenter.org