Ed Funding Increases, but Falls Short of Levels From 2 Years Ago (PA)

July 6, 2010

The state budget deal hammered out in Harrisburg last week increases basic education funding for Northampton County’s eight school districts by $6.6 million.

It is $2.1 million less than what Gov. Ed Rendell proposed in February.

While the budget increases basic education funding statewide by $250 million — a 4.5 percent increase — it still falls $104 million short of 2008-2009 state funding.

“The General Assembly did a good job preserving as much funding as possible so that education in Pennsylvania can have some stability,” said Baruch Kintisch, director of policy and advocacy for the statewide Education Law Center.

“The General Assembly did much better for Pennsylvania schools than many other states,” he said. “However, there is a lot of pain in this education budget.”

Kintisch is referencing the millions of dollars in cuts made to other parts of the education budget — funding that Lehigh Valley school districts rely for an assortment of programs and staff.

Some of the cuts include a $1.2 million reduction in Pre-K Counts funding, an $11.5 million cut to student tutoring, a $1.1 million cut in Head Start funding and a $12 million decrease in accountability block grants.

The grants were established in 2004-2005 to focus tax dollars on four areas that increase student achievement: early childhood edu cation, struggling student support, enhancing teacher quality and support for research-based programs.

“It is a ripple effect here through all these little cuts,” Kintisch said. “It is going to cause real pain, especially for the lower-wealth school districts.”

The local effect

Nazareth Area School District used Rendell’s basic subsidy numbers to plan its budget, which would have resulted in a 9.2 percent funding increase, to $9.1 million. But anticipating it might not see the full allocation, the district set aside a reserve to cover any state funding shortfall, Business Administrator Bernadine Rishcoff said.

The budget Rendell is to sign this week gives Nazareth a 6.7 percent basic education increase to $8.9 million, which falls short of Rendell’s initial plan by $200,000.

“It is an increase but it is less than what was in the governor’s budget,” Rishcoff said last week.

She anticipates the district will have to use reserves and perhaps some of its basic education funding to cover cuts to its accountability block grant.
“Given the conservative way we built our budget we will be able to manage with what they are doing,” she said.

But without the final numbers for all of Nazareth’s allocation, Rishcoff said she can’t talk bottom line and specifics.

“I’m not surprised to see a decrease with these hard economic times and what they said as far as a projected (state) deficit,” Rishcoff said.

The Easton Area School District saw a 3.6 percent increase in basic education subsidy, to $20.2 million. Business Manager Marie Guidry did not return phone messages seeking comment.

The Bethlehem Area School District would have been the big winner under Rendell’s plan, with an almost 18 percent, or $4.59 million, increase in subsidy over last year, to $30.6 million.

Instead, Bethlehem will see a 13.4 percent hike, to $29.5 million — something that school board member Eugene McKeon said necessitates budget tweaking.

Stacy M. Gober, Bethlehem’s new assistant to the superintendent for finance and administration, could not be reached for comment. Acting Superintendent Thomas E. Persing also was unavailable for comment.

McKeon said Friday the district’s $207 million budget that hiked taxes by almost 6.2 percent incorporated Rendell’s funding figures.

“I would think we have to go back and make cuts to ensure we stay within the spending level in our own local taxation,” said McKeon, who voted against the budget because he didn’t think the board cut enough.

The board will have to strongly encourage the administration to implement more cost constraints, McKeon said, so the shortfall doesn’t mean the district has to dip into the reserve it is painstakingly trying to rebuild after years of deficit spending.

Last August, the board slashed $2.8 million in programs and almost 46 jobs to make up an anticipated shortfall in state funding.

The future isn’t brighter

McKeon anticipates next year is going to be even tougher when stimulus money runs out and employer contributions to public school employee pensions continue on their multi-year spike.

Overall, the state budget relies on $655 m illion in stimulus money that runs out next year.

“There is going to be a funding crisis for public education next year,” Kintisch said.

The basic education funding formula was compiled in 2008. It determines what the state’s share of funding in each district should be, taking into account a district’s wealth, size, tax burden and student achievement levels.

Kintisch criticized the budget for keeping special education funding flat and that it came with a minimum increase of 2 percent for all districts, including wealthy ones. It made cuts to the funding for poorer districts with more high-need students.

“It is not as equitable as it should be,” he said.