Many of you wrote about the unfair situation that left Jada at a school that had fewer resources than the neighboring school just a few miles down the road.
Based on what we have discussed in class, you know that the discrepancy in resources comes from the reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. The mix in PA is 56% from local property tax, 36% from state taxes, and 8% from the federal government.
The local money creates the inequalities that have discussed because of differences in the value of taxable property from one school district to the next. The state money is distributed to school districts in such a way that it tries to make the spending more equal among districts by giving poorer districts more. This helps make things more equal but the inequalities are so great that state money isn’t enough to make up the difference.
One proposal to make the financing of education more fair would be to do away with property taxes altogether and shift to a different tax (say sales or income tax) to raise revenue for schools. There is a proposal just like this being discussed by the PA legislature right now! However, there are problems with this approach as well and public school advocates are hoping that tax reform won’t pass. Why would they be against this kind of tax reform?
Here is short video from the PA Budget and Policy Center that explains why. Here is how this group describes itself:
Since 2007, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) has played a key role in Harrisburg demystifying tax and budget policies, separating truth from myth, and ensuring policy debates are grounded in the facts. Through credible research and advocacy, the Center promotes policies that allow working people to move out of poverty and into the middle class.
Here is a link to the quick video on tax reform:
Hopefully we can talk about this in class this week and come up with our own ideas about the best mix of taxes to support public education.