PA State Board of Education Awards Contract for Education Costing-Out Study
Posted on: Wednesday, 13 December 2006, 18:00 CST
HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania State Board of Education today announced that a contractor has been chosen to conduct a statewide, educational costing-out study. The study will determine what financial resources are required to provide a quality K-12 education to every student in the commonwealth's public schools.
Augenblick Palaich and Associates Inc. (APA), a private, school finance consulting firm, was awarded the $644,127 contract to conduct the costing-out study. Last Spring, the Denver, Col. firm A conducted a costing-out study for the Allentown City School District. The company has performed similar studies in Connecticut, Delaware, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas and Maryland.
The General Assembly passed Act 114 in last July, directing the State Board to provide for a comprehensive, statewide, costing-out study to determine the basic cost-per-student necessary to provide all students with a quality education and that allows them to meet state academic standards and assessments.
The study will also evaluate both the adequacy and equity of existing educational funding to determine if financial resources are being distributed in a way to provide all children - regardless of socioeconomic status or geographic location - with an equal opportunity to succeed in school and to meet academic performance requirements. The study will identify other possible areas of funding necessary to meet the needs of schools and students facing challenges such as poverty, limited English proficiency, students with disabilities, and issues affecting rural and urban school populations.
Examinations will also be conducted to study exemplary school districts that have struck a balance between high academic performance and low education/operation costs.
During the 2004-05 school year, school district expenditures per student statewide averaged $10,850, but from district to district average spending varied significantly from a low of $7,929 (Penn-Trafford School District) to a high of $20,221 (Lower Merion School District) per student. In the average classroom of 25 students, this is a difference of up to $307,300 per class, per year.
The study is expected to be completed by November 2007.
CONTACT: Mike Storm, Pennsylvania Department of Education, +1-717-783-9802.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
CONTACT: Mike Storm, Pennsylvania Department of Education,+1-717-783-9802
Web site: http://www.state.pa.us/
Source: PRNewswire
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