The Lower Merion School District receives approximately $45 million annually from the state. When Philadelphia and other underfunded school districts are in such dire financial straits, why is Lower Merion receiving even a dime from the state?
Pennsylvania distributes roughly $ 12 billion annually in state funding to public schools. The top 1/3 wealthiest school districts receive almost $3 billion of the state’s K-12 public education allocation. If the money currently distributed to the wealthy districts were allocated to the 1/3 of districts that make up the poorest districts, those districts could spend an additional $5,200 per student. The Poor schools might even be able to have libraries.
If the candidates are serious about fair funding for schools, the solution is obvious.
We don’t need to legalize pot or generate more gambling revenue in order for the poorest districts to have libraries and even librarians in their schools.
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