The Pennsylvania House Education Committee this week approved school funding legislation that, if passed into law, would mean local districts would pay less to cyber charter schools and would receive more state funding.
House Bill 2370, approved by committee Tuesday, is comprehensive school funding legislation that would establish a long-term plan to equitably and adequately fund public schools according to student needs, stated the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center.
The groups said the bill begins to answer the call to action required by Commonwealth Court, which ruled that the state’s school funding system is unconstitutional — finding that students in low-wealth school districts are being denied their constitutional right to a quality education.
Should it be passed by the General Assembly without change, the bill would result in local school districts saving a significant amount of money that currently goes to cyber charter schools, a problem superintendents outlined recently to The Era.
“Cyber charter costs are consuming 5% of our budget and there is a lack of transparency as to how this money is being spent,” said Kane Area School District Superintendent Jeannine Kloss.
Katy Pude, superintendent of Bradford Area School District, said, “Often a cyber student will cost the district much more than a student who attends their home district school. Bradford’s costs currently exceed $1,500,000 for students attending cyber charter schools.”
This legislation would be a step toward correcting it.
According to a breakdown provided by the Education Law Center, under this bill, Bradford Area School District would save $438,213 in cyber charter support in the 2024/25 school year. Kane would save $237,447; Otto-Eldred would save $136,502; Port Allegany would save $130,859; and Smethport would save $221,236.
The legislation passed by the committee would write into law the recommendations of the Basic Education Funding Commission’s majority report, which used an analysis of current costs of school districts that are meeting state academic goals to set a funding target for every school district based on student need and offered a seven-year plan for meeting those targets.
Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed this plan and has put forward a first-year investment in his proposed 2024-25 budget aligned with this vision. This legislation would finish the job, putting into law the entire plan to close school funding gaps laid out by the commission, the Education Law Center stated.
The legislation would boost state funding levels to 367 underfunded Pennsylvania school districts by $5.1 billion through annual increases of $728 million in state funding each year for seven years. It includes $1 billion in state support for communities facing the highest local property taxes due to state underfunding. It also ensures stability for districts with declining enrollments by guaranteeing that they will continue to receive no less than their current level of state funding.
Under the Fair Funding Formula proposed in the bill, Bradford would receive an additional $334,613 in basic education funding; Kane, $170,437; Otto-Eldred, $77,739; Port Allegany, $123,159; and Smethport, $146,225.
