SAMPLE EDITORIAL
Budget impasse puts school districts in financial uncertainty
School districts are in a state of financial uncertainty right now. The state has not yet completely fulfilled its obligation to finalize the 2015-16 budget that was due last June, even as Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed a state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that will begin July 1. At the same time, school boards are developing their own 2016-17 budgets without knowledge of whether additional funding will be received for the remainder of the current school year or what will be provided for the upcoming year.
A state budget partially enacted at the end of December allowed school districts to receive just 45% of the funding owed for this current school year, and districts are still waiting for the remaining subsidies that have not yet been approved. In the meantime, districts are still obligated to provide mandated education programs and services, keep their buildings safe, and to meet payroll and other employee expenses. The consequences grow more serious as districts are depleting savings, making cuts and holding off on purchases and payments, or borrowing funds. This state of uncertainty grows with each passing week of the impasse.
Contributing to the problem of budget planning is the fact that in recent years, basic education funding has been distributed without the benefit of a reliable, fair and transparent funding formula. The lack of a predictable funding formula has resulted in great disparities in how state education funds are distributed to school districts and has led the state’s property owners down a road of enduring tax increases. The new formula recommended by the Basic Education Funding Commission last June begins to remedy decades of inequity and drive dollars to those districts that need them the most, and it should be enacted in this budget.
In addition, the budget should include meaningful pension reform. Any state funding increases that are given for education are largely being consumed by mandated employee retirement costs. Districts pay millions of dollars each year for pension obligations, and climbing employer contribution rates are taking a greater share of available revenues that should be directed to classrooms.
This time of financial uncertainty must end. Students, taxpayers and communities are being hurt by the budget impasse. Gov. Wolf and the General Assembly need to work together to finish the 2015-16 state budget in order to keep the school doors across Pennsylvania open for the remainder of this school year. In addition, the state must continue to provide adequate funding moving forward through timely completion of the 2016-17 state budget by June 30. The state must enact a funding formula that is predictable and addresses adequacy and equity for all school districts, as well as meaningful pension reform that provides savings now and long-term relief in future years.