Philly school $ trails other big cities

Compared with big-city peers, the Philadelphia School District now spends less per pupil than almost any other education system in the country — even Detroit’s.

Philadelphia’s per-pupil pricetag last school year was $12,570 — the lowest of any comparable district except Memphis, Tampa and Dallas, the Pew Charitable Trusts concluded in a report released Thursday.

Detroit spent $13,419 per student and Boston, at the top of the peer district list, spent $18,626.

Pennsylvania is one of just three states in the country that lacks an education funding formula, and city schools have paid the price in recent years, with many unable to fund full-time guidance counselors or after-school activities. But with the commonwealth now headed toward such a formula, Pew examined the funding landscape in national context.

One of Pew’s findings was something of a surprise: states with formulas that take into consideration student and district need do not automatically provide a higher level of funding to urban districts.

“The formula is not the whole thing,” said Larry Eichel, director of the Philadelphia research initiative at Pew.

Still, a formula is key for the distirct, the study's authors noted, and "would almost certainly provide Philadelphia with a larger share of state education money than it receives under the current system..."

The study also singled out charter school costs as a key issue. Over 60,000 city students enrolled in charter schools, with the district paying $8,417 for each student, and $22,307 for those students who use special education services.

Pennsylvania's charter-funding mechanism puts Philadelphia in about the middle of the pack for financial burden of charters, Pew concluded.

The report also noted that Philadelphia drew more on state aid- and less on local funding sources - than most of its peer districts. Roughly 46 percent of the district's finances come from state coffers, and 43 percent from local sources. (City officials said those numbers have shifted for the current school year, with state money making up about 47 percent of the district's budget, thanks to an extension of an additional 1 percent sales tax, and a $2-per-pack cigarette tax.)

The report was released just before January's School Reform Commission meeting, which I'll be livetweeting. Follow along here, and check tomorrow's Inquirer for more on the Pew report and the SRC meeting.