Pennsylvania’s education system is broken: here’s how to fix it | Opinion

By Elizabeth Stelle

Are Pennsylvania schools underfunded? Before COVID-19, 52 percent of Pennsylvania voters thought so. Then, after voters learned the actual price tag, this number dropped by half.

Three years later, a Franklin & Marshall College poll finds only 44 percent of respondents believe schools lack funding, revealing a subtle yet notable shift in public sentiment. As education spending balloons—soaring 55.7 percent in the last decade—Pennsylvanians are increasingly skeptical of demands for more education funding.

New data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education shows statewide per-pupil funding reached $21,263 last school year, up from $19,966 the year before. That’s $452,260 per classroom and among the highest per-pupil spending in the country.

Per-pupil spending, up 42.9 percent over the last decade, isn’t the only type of education spending rising.

Statewide, school district reserve funds increased to $5.9 billion in 2022, up from $5.2 billion the previous year. Originally intended to help school districts weather economic downturns or unexpected events, these budget reserves are growing so large they dwarf the state’s rainy-day fund. Last year, the rainy-day fund totaled 12 percent of the state budget, and school district reserve funds averaged 24 percent.

Meanwhile, the state treasury is still sitting on more than $3 billion in pandemic-related aid earmarked for schools.

And yet—some school districts use loose-and-fast accounting to justify tax increases. In a January audit, the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General exposed schools that shifted millions of dollars from their general funds to other funds to justify raising property taxes. Mocked by Auditor Timothy DeFoor as a “shell game,” this practice allowed 12 school districts to raise taxes 37 times and increase their respective general funds accounts to $390 million.

All this money, unfortunately, isn’t improving academic achievement. In fact, Pennsylvania district schools are reporting lower test scores and declining enrollment. According to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSEA), 77 percent of Pennsylvania eighth graders are not proficient in math, and 44 percent are not proficient in language arts. Additionally, district school enrollment is down 7 percent over the last decade, with a significant drop following the onset of the pandemic.

Our current system is broken—not because district schools don’t work, but because they don’t offer an alternative when a child struggles. Pennsylvania’s public education system doesn’t lack funding; it lacks parental empowerment. Today’s system is designed to maintain buildings, not equip children with the academic skills they need to succeed.

But there are signs of change as more parents choose non-district schools and as lawmakers acknowledge that more money is not the answer.

During his campaign, Gov. Josh Shapiro repeatedly said he supports Lifeline Scholarships, which would redirect the state share of education spending—currently, $7,157 per pupil—to families with students assigned to Pennsylvania’s worst-performing schools for education services and resources customized to these children.

In March, Sen. Kim Ward, arguably the most influential Pennsylvania senator, criticized Shapiro for excluding his campaign promise from his state budget address. “I’m just going to assume he meant Lifeline Scholarships and a chance for children in failing school districts to get out of those school districts,” said Ward.

The Lifeline Scholarship Program, which passed the House in 2022, could become a vital first step toward making K–12 education in Pennsylvania student-focused.

School choice consensus is building, and not just in Pennsylvania. In 2021 (dubbed “the year of choice” by education-choice advocates), 18 states passed new educational-choice programs.

And 2023 is kicking it up a notch. Since January, eight states expanded or created choice programs, like Lifeline Scholarships, where the money follows the child. Increasingly, these programs are expanding and covering all students, making universal choice a reality state by state. These programs will tremendously impact American education for years to come.

Back in Pennsylvania, declining school district enrollment shows more and more Pennsylvanians question the education establishment’s narrative that more funding will improve life for their children. Adding zeros to already-bloated budgets won’t fix our education system—but empowering families can.

Elizabeth Stelle is the Director of Policy Analysis of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank. Twitter: @ElizabethBryan