Some schools fear they will be punished for prudence

Maybe the Punxy school should be enlightened to how much they state funding they receive PER STUDENT - which is significantly higher than the fast-growing schools of eastern PA. Then they would see the inequities that resulted from a broken state formula that now needs to be fixed.

That formula basically gave the same lump sum to a school regardless of its change in enrollment. Under that formula, fast-growing schools got the same lump sum, thereby receiving less funding per student from the state

Property taxes had to pick up the slack, which is why fast-growing school such as those in the Poconos now endure some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

The high taxes forced farmers to lose their land to developers, which built more houses and brought more students to the area, requiring new schools to be built. Yet the state funding didn't increase, so the property tax had to be increased that much more ... thus forcing more farmers to lose their land to developers.. bringing in more houses and students.... see the feedback?

It's a broken system that needs to be fixed!

Maybe Punxy school should be enlightened to how much state funding they receive PER STUDENT - which is significantly higher than the fast-growing schools of eastern PA. Then they would see the inequities that resulted from a broken state formula that now needs to be fixed.

That formula basically gave the same lump sum to a school regardless of its change in enrollment. Under that formula, fast-growing schools got the same lump sum, thereby receiving less funding per student from the state

Property taxes had to pick up the slack, which is why fast-growing school such as those in the Poconos now endure some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

The high taxes forced farmers to lose their land to developers, which built more houses and brought more students to the area, requiring new schools to be built. Yet the state funding didn't increase, so the property tax had to be increased that much more ... thus forcing more farmers to lose their land to developers.. bringing in more houses and students.... see the feedback?

It's a broken system that needs to be fixed!

"Allentown get the parity they DESERVE?"

So a craphole city like Allentown, where employment runs low and people on welfare and the like run high, "deserves" to be on par with an area where people work hard, fix up their homes, and raise their kids well.

What arrogance. What absolute arrogance.

Eds a a#% are goverment cant think pass there noses republicans an democrats are driving this country right into the ground but what do they care they got theres.

aaa ~ in response to your post... Allentown does have a high rate of welfare recipients, but they also have people who work hard, fix up their homes and raise their kids well. We have anywhere from 500-800 students graduating each year. Most coming from extremely low income households. Does that mean that they are not deserving because they’re part of the ASD.

The only arrogance I see is yours and shame on you.

The redistribution focuses on fixing a symptom, not fixing the problem. The Pennsylvania system of local school districts and property taxes to fund them is old, broken, and from another time era. It does not bring efficiencies. We'll continue to go down this road putting band aids on a broken system until the problem is solved, not the symptom. Have you noticed that the problem is not going away, no matter what "solution" comes out of Harrisburg?

With all of the McMansions in Forks, Palmer, and other areas ...how in the world can Easton be considered a poor district ... give me a break ... they are just fiscally mismanaged and have been for at least two decades!

Fire lousy teachers, come up with strong curriculum, actually think about what you're doing and see what can happen.

UGH!

The cost per pupil in Punxsytawny is much lower than Allentown or Philadelphia. So they get punished for frugality. The same thing happened with the gambling money. What the state needs to do is stop basing the formula on a lump sum and develop a per student rate that is adjusted for cost of living.

With Slick Eddie in office thats to Democrats the only people that will get fair share plus is Philly and Pittsburgh. Thanks Dems can`t wait to see what Osama/Obama does to the country.

aaa wrote:

"Allentown get the parity they DESERVE?"
So a craphole city like Allentown, where employment runs low and people on welfare and the like run high, "deserves" to be on par with an area where people work hard, fix up their homes, and raise their kids well.
What arrogance. What absolute arrogance.

Actually, exactly the opposite. It is equality not arrogance. Every child deserves an EQUAL educational opportunity. A child born in poverty in Allentown deserves the same chance at a quality education as a child born into the middl class in Whitehall or a child born into affluence in Parkland. Funny thing is that most of those districts agree with it as well. The funding of schools should be equalized statewide to make educational opportunities equal. Equalized not equal. You need to take relative cost of living and such in to account. In an ideal world all school funding would come from state, not local, sources and we'd have a uniform system with far less districts. Until we are ready to give up our little enclaves of wealth and the outdated property tax system, this approach, which is being pushed by prominent Republicans not just Rendell and was sparked by actions by the schools themselves, including walthy schools, is a start.

And don't say that the poor child's family should just move to Parkland or East Penn or whatever. Income, public transportation and other factors often preclude it. And, frankly, we shouldn't have people moving because of the schools because that only continues a system where schools are unequal.

Let every child have the same educational opportunity with fair funding and with accountability.

Forks Gal wrote:

With all of the McMansions in Forks, Palmer, and other areas ...how in the world can Easton be considered a poor district ... give me a break ... they are just fiscally mismanaged and have been for at least two decades!
Fire lousy teachers, come up with strong curriculum, actually think about what you're doing and see what can happen.
UGH!

Actually, those McMansions add to the problem. Housing developments do not reduce the school funding problem. They add to it. Commercial developments that add taxes without adding kids (despite what we think, few kids actually LIVE at the mall) actually help subsidize the schools.

But, housing adds to the strain. The average McMansion in this area brings with it 1.8 McChildren that cost about $10K a year to McEducate. Do the math, those McMansions will pay $6 to $8K a year in McSchool taxes. They will never pay for the education of the children who grow up in them. That is why communities have rules about lot sizes--so you don't get TOO MANY houses and kids. It is also why areas adopt age-restricted housing where there are no kids. The housing boom brings more kids. More kids means more taxes. That is why despite the boom in McMansions that East Penn taxes keep going up. Parkland, despite spending a lot, has kept taxes lower because it has a large industrial base. Kids don't live in warehouses either.

Biker wrote:

With Slick Eddie in office thats to Democrats the only people that will get fair share plus is Philly and Pittsburgh. Thanks Dems can`t wait to see what Osama/Obama does to the country.

That is exactly what pat Browne and others are fighting. The current formula gives Philly and Pitt too much. The new formula would take $90 million from Pitt and give an additional $90 million to A-town. It is a start. Part of the mess, you are correct, has come from favoring the two large cities at either end of the state, but in defense of Big Ed, that was going on for decades before he came into office and existed under Ridge, Casey, Thornburg, Shapp, Shaeffer, Scranton, etc., etc.

I think it is time for a no confidence vote in Fast Fat EDDY Cheese Steak Rendell. You do realize the Filthadelphia subsidizes its school systems with a 10% alcohol
beverage tax and has for many years.
Now there is a suggestion a new 10% tax on alcohol to subsize school funding accrossed the state. There you go Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton could make a couple million dollars. Whatever moneys are raised from the sale of acoholic beverages in that particular district stays in that district it does not go out to support any other district. This way the state does not get thier fingers on it so they can take thier cut.
As far as Fat Fast Eddy Cheese Steak Rendell I thought he was for reducing Property taxes isn't that what he campaigned, And isnt that what his Slut machines asre supposed to do. I say Impeached The Fat BAST***

And people are saying he may be considered for the VP spot next to Obama. Look out!

Once again, Bolshevik Ed Rendell is looking for ways to steal money. Typical white trash governor who thinks pouring more money into Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allentown is going to improve education. I tell you now, give the Allentown school district a billion dollars and you will not see any improvement in graduation rates. Philadelphia and Allentown are stinking welfare hell holes. Look at how much funding the Washington DC school district gets, and notice the results. This is what Rendell wants for Pennsylvania.

Apparently, you can’t use the words w h i t e _trash. Unbelievable.

McMansion has 1.8 children?? How about the Allentown row home with 10. Who is paying for that? PATHETIC

As a former resident of New Jersey, I recognise what Rendell is doing, they did the same thing in NJ and my property taxes went from $3,000 to $12,000/yr in about ten years. The logic is simple, the Rendell Democrats are defunding suburban and rural schools where their support is weak, and increasing funding in urban schools where thier public constituancy is strong and the teachers union influence is concentrated. Unfortunatly the money leaks from these systems because of poor management and the kids never see the benefit.

It's interesting to hear Karen Beyer and Tim Allwein talk about districts that would be "hurt" by only getting a 1.5 percent increase in funding ($1,052 per student or $216,014 this year in Punxy's case) when they are proposing cutting funding to cyber charters which have to succeed academically while operating with 25 percent LESS per student than the district where the student in the school resides.
Karen is on record as trying to attach the cyber funding cuts ($10 million a year to some schools) to the increases to the rest of the state.
Come on Karen, get PSBA and your other campaign funders (PSEA) to stop being so parochial on the funding issue and give all Pennsylvania kids a chance to succeed.

Punished for succeeding,

What you fail to realize is that one of the draws to cyber charter schools is the fact that they can get away with paying less per student. They don't have the building costs that "regular schools" do, nor do they have to staff a large building of custodians and lunch workers. The cost per student should be considerably less per student at a cyber school than a regular school.(And if you look at what cyber schools pay their teachers, you also see a difference there, as well.)