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School funding unfair, 90% say in poll
Friday, November 09, 2001 By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- The vast majority of state residents think the way schools are funded is unfair and must be changed, according to a new poll.
"These numbers have grown year after year after year. I think it has crescendoed now after decades of complaints," said Terry Madonna, a professor at Millersville University of Pennsylvania who conducted the poll. "There has been a growing rise in fairness and taxation concerns."
The poll, conducted in August but released Wednesday, found that 90 percent of those surveyed believe the way Pennsylvania's public schools are funded -- mostly through local property taxes augmented by state tax revenue -- is unfair.
The poll found that 83 percent of those surveyed realized that school districts spend different amounts per pupil, a response that the researchers say shows a sophisticated knowledge of the problems.
In some cases, poorer school districts spend less money on education per pupil because local property values cannot support higher taxes to put those districts on a par with richer school districts. As a result, children in richer school districts may be getting better educational opportunities.
Poorer districts have been complaining about that for years, blaming the state for not allocating enough funds. Property owners statewide have been complaining for years about rising property taxes to pay for public schools, regardless of how much the state appropriates for public education.
"It has literally been the top issue in the state for the last few years, since it replaced the economy and crime as the top issues" in the mid-1990s, Madonna said. "When you get to 90 percent, when anyone agrees on anything to this degree, the numbers really are astronomical. They are looking for reform. ... The property tax system must go."
The poll of 655 state residents has a margin of error of 4.3 percent.
Although the poll showed most people agree that the way schools are funded is flawed, just what to do about it is not a matter of consensus.
The poll found that 62 percent of those surveyed would vote for a state lawmaker who voted to raise state taxes to increase funds for public schools. When asked if local property taxes should be decreased, and state income taxes increased correspondingly for public education, 64 percent said they would approve.
That is something that some lawmakers for years have tried to pass, to no avail. A 1989 referendum that would have accomplished something similar was overwhelmingly shot down by voters.
The poll asked no other questions about possible fixes to the school funding problem, Madonna noted.
"There is no prescription [for a cure] in this data," he said.
The poll was done on behalf of Good Schools Pennsylvania, a school reform advocacy group that has been pushing since March for a complete overhaul of the public education system.
The organization is using the poll results to bolster the argument that funding reform is both necessary and demanded by state residents.
The group also unveiled new promotional materials in its public awareness campaign, including a public service television spot, bumper stickers and brochures. The group wants a fairer funding system, full-day kindergartens, smaller class sizes and other reform measures.
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