(The Center Square) – New analysis of prepandemic education spending trends and their correlating academic growth offers a mixed bag of results in Pennsylvania.
The Reason Foundation published a report Thursday that compares boosted investment into public schools by federal, state and local governments – i.e., taxpayers – between 2002 and 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic.
After adjusting for inflation, education revenue – two-thirds of which comes from local taxes – climbed 49.1% during the two decades, the sixth highest in the nation. Employee benefit spending ballooned by 173.6%, ranking third, while costs for instruction and support services grew roughly 34%, ranking ninth and 18th, respectively.
The Commonwealth Court recently deemed the state’s current funding formula unconstitutional, compounding the issue. A lawmaker-stacked commission formed to tackle the issue approved a plan that calls for at least $200 million in new spending each year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro supports the new plan, but does not want to commit to a specific spending number given the fluctuation in economic conditions that impact the state budget – like a pandemic.
