Seeking Balance: Fairness in Education Funding

Blogger's Note: The following was submitted by Debra Brauner. 

More than 60 Pottstown area people joined the first community forum on fairness in education funding in Pennsylvania last month. 

David Mosenkis, representing POWER Interfaith, a statewide faith-based organizing group, presented data-driven evidence showing the dramatic difference in per pupil state and local funding between high and low poverty districts and how that funding disparity is driven by and perpetuates racial inequities.

David Mosenkis

Organized by First Baptist Church, Pottstown, in cooperation with Zion’s United Church of Christ, Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ, Bethel Community Church, First Presbyterian Church, Congregation Hesed Shel Emet, this was the first of six forums designed to inform and spark dialogue in the community addressing Pennsylvnia’s unfair funding policies.

Pennsylvania ranks last of all states providing 33 percent less funding per student in poor districts compared to the wealthier districts. The difference lies in stark contrast to Indiana which provides 17 percent more funding per student in poor districts. 

Mosenkis explained that while many states provide 50 percent of public school funding, Pennsylvania  provides only about 35 percent. Pennsylvania school districts are left to come up with an additional 60 percent at a local level. 

Wealthier (predominantly white) districts do not face the challenges that poorer (predominantly brown/black) districts face in securing the needed funds at a local level. Poorer districts fall short of necessary funds for their students.

Mosenkis explained how PA distributes the state portion of its funding dollars among its 500 school districts. He noted in 2016, Pennsylvania passed into law a Fair Funding Formula. The Fair Funding Formula takes into account a number of factors in each school district including the number of students, how many students live in poverty, the local taxing capacity, how many students are English language learners, and population sparsity. 

That’s the good news. The bad news is only about 11 percent of the current state funding goes through the Fair Funding Formula. The other 89 percent is still distributed in the same inequitable manner as it was before the formula was enacted.

Graphic by David Mosenkis

Students in the least white districts are short-changed on average, $2,200 per student. For 2020 Pottstown students, with the Fair Funding Formula applied to 100 percent state educational funds each student should have received $7,578 in funding. What they actually received was $3,592 per student; a shortfall of $3,986 per student. 

Over six years the cumulative shortchange has amounted to $67 million in lost funding to Pottstown School District and lost opportunities for student growth.

Mosenkis stated that Governor Wolf’s 2021-2022 budget proposes that the Fair Funding Formula be applied to 100 percent of the current year’s state educational funds. The formula would be applied to an additional $200 million. 

The new dollars would give a boost to all districts, however, even with a large increase, poorer, predominantly black and brown communities would still not receive full equity because an additional supplement in the Governor’s proposal goes only to the overwhelmingly white districts who have for years been getting more than their fair share of state funding. And total state funding levels are still too low.

When asked what we can do about this inequity, Mosenkis suggested that members of the community write letters to local newspapers and their elected officials encouraging support for the governor’s budget proposal.

A recording of the forum and Mr. Mosenkis’ powerpoint presentation is on the First Baptist Church website at: www.fbcpottstown.org. Click on the tab for “School Funding Forum.”