HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf defended his proposal to expand Pennsylvania’s Fair Funding Formula Thursday, arguing it could slow the rise of school property taxes in some school districts.
The Fair Funding Formula is meant to address what Democratic lawmakers say is a fundamentally unfair education system in Pennsylvania.
“We still live in educational apartheid in Pennsylvania where the disparities are significant,” State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) said at Gov. Wolf’s press conference.
The state covers 38 percent of school funding, according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
Local school districts are forced to make up the difference, mostly through property taxes. However tax revenues vary widely across the state.
“The areas where you have concentrations of poverty end up with the least ability to pay for the education,” Wolf said.
Instructional spending per student also varies across districts, from $11,511.23 to $26,841.15, according to Department of Education data from the 2018-19 school year.
That’s where the Fair Funding Formula comes in, the Wolf administration said. The formula is supposed to distribute money based on factors like current head count and district costs. The logic is that better-funded districts won’t have to keep raising school property taxes.
Those school property taxes are widely unpopular.
“Every year I get a school tax bill. I still don't understand why because I have no children, period, much less children of school age,” said Eric Hoffman of Harrisburg. “What is it that I'm getting for that money?”
“I don't think there should be a school tax. I think it should come from income tax,” said Shannon Antes of Lancaster.
Currently only 11 percent of state education dollars go through the formula.
"It only works if it's fully enacted, and so far it has not been,” Wolf said.
Any measure would have to be passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, some of whom have signaled limited support.
“We agree that the schools need to be taken care of, but I will tell you this: the biggest obstacle for our schools is the unfunded mandates,” State Sen. Cris Dush (R-Brookville) said in response to the governor’s 2021 Budget Address.
Educators and education associations have widely praised the proposed budget’s focus on public schools.