Little comfort when your house is on fire…

This week’s budget address contained some wins for kids (more money for CHIP and Medicare) and some losses (no money at all for child care).

It also had a few duds, like $100 million more for basic education funding (we’re not ready to count the additional proposed $280M included in the governor’s proposal as the required changes in the charter school law are far from guaranteed).

We’ll get to why $100M is a dud in a little bit. But first we wanted to share some of the facts legislators were spouting to reporters in Harrisburg about school funding on Tuesday. PCCY was in town for Gov. Wolf’s budget speech and we kept hearing the following three things regarding how well Pennsylvania is doing in terms of education funding.

1. The state is spending record amounts on public schools

This is true but utterly meaningless.

The fact is that the same statement can be made for nearly every essential service funded in the state budget, including the State Police, Corrections, Child Welfare, Medicaid, and for the legislature itself. 

If PA families today are spending record amounts on milk or bread, it’s not proof that they’re prioritizing those items over others…it just so happens that every grocery item is more costly.  

Besides, a highwater mark is only meaningful if it demonstrates that the state is meeting its obligation to all students. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not.

2. Annual education spending increases far surpass the rate of inflation

That’s like being told that the flames are no longer spreading–it doesn’t distract you from the fact that your house is on fire.  

But the truth is the biggest driver in education spending in Pennsylvania in the last ten years has been the cost of charter payments and special education costs. To balance their budgets for 2019-20, 70% of school districts raised property taxes. For every new property tax dollar raised between 2012-13 and 2017-18, 76 cents went to pay for these two costs alone.

Without a change in policy, charter school tuition is expected to cost school districts $3 billion by 2024-25, if not before. The result of ongoing growth is more burden on local taxpayers and fewer opportunities for school district students.

3. PA spends more than most states, per student

If you hear a state legislator tell you this, you should be rolling your eyes so hard that you topple over.

They’re not talking about what they’re doing in Harrisburg…and for good reason.

When it comes to funding our schools, local communities pay for twice as much of our school costs compared to state funds because the state pays so little. That’s why your district probably raised your taxes.

How little are state legislators doing? Pennsylvania ranks a shameful 44th in the nation for the share of education funding the state government contributes. If not for those painful local tax hikes, districts would have to impose devastating cuts to programs.

These three ‘truths’ are classic examples of cynical, political spin. But considering how dire the funding crisis is, we find them to be unconscionable. Here’s what you actually need to know.

According to PASBO-PASA’s new report, between 2010-11 and 2017-18, the cost of special education, pensions and charters costs increased by more than $4.6 billion. During the same time, state support for these costs resulted in a total state funding increase of $2.24 billion

The State’s education deficit is $2.43 billion and this deficit meant higher local taxes or weaker education programs across the state. 

That’s why $100M more in basic education funding (and $25M for special education) is a dud. Yes, that money marks the 6th funding increase in a row and it definitely beats the efforts of the previous administration. But when state legislators try to peddle these wafer-thin truths at you, they’re obscuring the bigger picture through deliberate omission. 

That makes them unreliable narrators because, as most public school parents will tell you, the house is clearly still on fire.