Meeting Set to Discuss State School Funding

State officials will host a public meeting at Hempfield High School on Wednesday night to discuss the findings of a study on the cost of public education in Pennsylvania.

The “costing-out” study, released Nov. 14, concluded it would take $22 billion a year for all public schools in the state to meet Pennsylvania’s academic expectations – about $4.6 billion more than school districts are now spending.

Research firm Augenblick, Palaich and Associates completed the study for the state Board of Education, which establishes statewide education standards.

Officials from the Board of Education and the research firm will speak at Wednesday’s meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. in Hackman Auditorium.

Advocates of school funding reform say the costing-out study confirms that Pennsylvania’s system, which relies heavily on local school property taxes, is inadequate and inequitable and needs to be changed.

The study was designed to provide a starting point for state legislators as they consider possible school funding reform.

According to the study, the annual cost of adequately educating a student in Pennsylvania is $12,057, about $2,500 more than schools spent, on average, in 2005-06.

Nearly 95 percent of the state’s 501 school districts spent less than they should have in 2005-06, the study concluded.

In Lancaster County, school funding fell short by about $3,300 per pupil, on average.

Originally published by Lancaster New Era Staff.

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.