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Spending gap between high and low-income districts widens in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, school districts with the most money spend $4,000 more per student than districts with the least.

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When Governor Tom Corbett was elected in 2010, low and high-income school districts weren’t equally funded — the wealthiest 20 percent of districts spent, on average, $1,700 more per student in the 2010 to 2011 school year than the poorest 20 percent of districts. In 2014, that amount doubled to $4,025 more spent per student in an affluent district than a low-income district.

An AP analysis of school spending in Pennsylvania by Marc Levy found that the spending gap between low and high-income districts has widened in the past four years amidst state-level cuts to education funding. Half of the state’s districts in more affluent areas with greater property taxes spend an average of $1,794 more per student than the other half — more than double the gap from four years ago — while districts with the most money spend $4,000 more per student than districts with the least.

In the past four years, legislators shifted education funding away from the state and onto localities, leaving districts with a smaller tax-base or more low-income families with less funding than more affluent districts. A Centers for American Progress study from this year estimated that disparities in property tax revenue can account for about 92 percent of local funding disparities. Pennsylvania and Illinois were listed in the report as the states with the greatest inequalities in education funding.

 
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