Competency 8.06 Funding for Public Schools
Background
As Pennsylvanians raise expectations for their schools, a key issue is how the state funds public education. There is a huge debate flaring over the equity of how funds are distributed. Core questions framing the equity debate include: What's an adequate funding level to ensure all children have access to a quality education? Are children put at a disadvantage by fiscal inequities between districts? To understand the problems of education in
School District Funding
1) General Funds
· Local - (property tax, local tax, occupational tax and other) In Pennsylvania, 58% of education revenues come from local sources - mainly the property tax and, to a lesser degree, the local wage tax. School boards adjust the property tax rate - the millage rate - to reflect the district's financial needs.
· State - All Public schools receive state funds, but some get more than others. On average 39% of a local school district’s funds come from State sources. In an Education Week "Quality Counts" report, PA was ranked 49 out of 50 with a D- in funding equity. Rendell's plan from 2003-04 consisted of several basic elements: property tax reduction, basic education funding, funding for new programs and accountability. According to this report, the plan proposed that the state should be an equal partner in the funding of public education with school districts. The proposal moved the state’s share of funding from 35% to approximately 50%.
· Federal - Although federal funding constitutes about seven percent of a school district’s budget, it is needed to fund increased costs due to rising student enrollment and inflation. The Department of Education's proposed budget was $56 billion for 2005/06. Some of the specific programs that are funded federally include: special education initiatives, academic progress under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, local education reform initiatives, and other areas such as education technology and school lunch programs.
2) Grants
· Federal: There are many opportunities for federal grants, but it takes time to search and apply for them.
· Private (difficult to get)
· State (a little easier to get, but not as many): State grant opportunities in PA can be found on the PDE website:
Funding Specific for Technology
In industry, technology is important to have, but no one really wants to pay for it. However, without technology, many things can not be done to allow the companies to be competitive in today’s information age. Companies need students who can think, reason, and compute. Technology is here to stay. It is a priority in schools today. It is an expensive investment but a necessity and a part of the future. Funding has a major effect on technology in schools. Technology equipment is not cheap even when you buy the less expensive products. You can see where some school districts that don’t have the income base could be lagging behind. When a district can barely afford to buy text books and other necessary school supplies, they're often not able to spend money on computers. Some people might argue that computers today are a necessary school supply. So how do school districts fund
E-RATE – a federal initiative that provides discounts on telecommunications and Internet technologies to elementary and secondary schools and public libraries. Discounts range from 20% to 90% of the costs of eligible services, depending on the level of poverty and the urban/rural status. This is calculated by dividing the number of students on the School Lunch Program by the total number of students in your district.
Link-to-Learn - Governor Ridge's multi-year, $166 million initiative to expand the use of technology in the classroom, including new and upgraded computers for schools and high-tech training for teachers.
Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) – Primary goal of this program is to improve academic achievement through the use of technology. It is also used to assist all students in becoming technology literate by the end of 8th grade.
Summary
Equity of educational funds has been a recurring problem for districts. Therefore, districts need to come up with other ways to fund their educational program. Added to the dilemma is funds which are taken away from local districts from charter schools. It seems like the opportunities are available. It is just knowing, understanding & finding them that is the issue. Public schools in
Resources