The Legislature failed two weeks ago, yet again, to fundamentally change how Pennsylvania pays for its schools in its fourth attempt at property tax reform in nearly 20 years.
And there's slots to be angry about.
The state is supposed to pay half of all school district costs. The 501 districts are supposed to pick up the other half with local property taxes, and to a lesser extent, various income taxes.
But as education costs have risen, the state's share of paying them has dropped every year. It's now down to about 36 percent, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in January. Only Connecticut and Nebraska contribute a smaller share.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania annually ranks among the highest states in education costs in the nation as new contracts to pay unionized teachers continually push their average pay higher. The National Education Association now reports Pennsylvania's average teacher salary to be $53,258, while the national average is $47,808.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that does not either restrict its school boards ability to tax or spend, or leave it up to local voters to decide.
"The inevitable result: local property taxes have been going up steadily, and in some cases, sharply, year after year as local school districts are forced to cover more and more education costs," G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Millersville University, wrote in 2002.
"Politically, state officials are winners by 'exporting' the problem to local government, but policy wise education funding is a mess. It's a classic example of good politics making bad policy.
"... Pennsylvania's population is aging at the same time education costs are rising. The increasing share of education costs are being borne by the property tax at the exact time that aging local tax payers on fixed incomes are less able to pay."
Read more about it in my Daily Rant.
