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Meeting Economic Challenges in Allentown School District: Options for Action

This report explores the economic challenges facing the Allentown School District (ASD) and proposes various options to address them. The report highlights the inequitable state and local resources, significant resource gaps, and the impact of the crisis on ASD students. It presents state-level, county-level, and local options for action, including seeking state funding, advocating for education funding reform, implementing a uniform county-wide property tax, merging with surrounding districts, creating a community foundation, and raising the local mill levy.

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Meeting Economic Challenges in Allentown School District: Options for Action

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  1. OPTIONS FOR MEETING THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING THE ALLENTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT Prepared for: Education 2010! Prepared by: Dale DeCesare and John Myers Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. Denver, Colorado April 2006

  2. ASD is in a revenue crisis that resources as presently deployed cannot resolve A. High student need B. Insufficient and inequitable state and local resources C. Significant resource gaps that must be closed in a short period of time

  3. Inequitable State/Local Resources Despite high local tax rates, ASD lacks local capacity to meet student needs • ASD is low property value, high tax effort district • Less than half the property value per student of most other Lehigh County districts • A property tax rate that is the second highest in the county and significantly above the statewide average

  4. Inequitable State/Local resources Pennsylvania consistently ranks among the ten worst states in providing funds equitably to school districts • ASD state revenues per student fall below statewide average, and do not make up revenue disparities that exist between Allentown and other districts • In total revenues ASD is more than $2,000 per student behind statewide average

  5. Significant Resource Gaps, Little Time • To close per-student funding gap between ASD and state/county averages will cost in range of $30-35 million a year • An additional $10-12 million per year needed to provide for the higher student needs in ASD

  6. Significant Resource Gaps, Little Time • To achieve proficiency against state and federal standards and fully close the gap, considering the increased cost of educating ASD’s higher need students, would likely require about $75-77 million per year • Incremental remedies will only bring ASD in line with statewide, per student revenue averages, but will not address upcoming challenges

  7. The Impact of ASD’s Crisis on ASD Students is Severe • Lowest per student spending in county • Lowest staffing level per 1,000 students of any district studied • Significant building maintenance and operation needs that require an estimated $250 million • Lowest spending per pupil on school and district administration

  8. Options to Address the Crisis • To help identify options, Education 2010! and APA presented the findings of the study in December 2005 and February 2006 • Options were identified at 3 levels: State, County, and Local

  9. State-level Options Option 1– Seek a special state legislative funding appropriation for ASD that brings the District’s total revenue up to the state average per student • Urgency of ASD crisis calls for a solution that can be achieved in a reasonable amount of time • Pennsylvania has long provided special assistance to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Option 2 – Create a coalition to address reform of education funding at the state level • Pennsylvania consistently ranks among 10 worst states in providing funds equitably to districts • Unity among districts and other interested parties is needed to address state education funding reform

  10. County-level Options Option 3 – Create a uniform, county-wide property tax for ASD • $30 million/year gap = 3.7 county property tax mill increase • 75 million/year so ASD students can meet state and federal academic standards = 9.3 mill increase Option 4 – Create a single, county-wide school district Option 5 – Merge ASD with one or two surrounding districts

  11. Local Options Option 6 - ASD should complete work towards creating a community foundation • Generate funds for specific programs • Dollars generated small in relationship to overall need Option 7 - Raise local mill levy further • Current levy already significantly higher than county and state average

  12. Conclusions Local Options Limited • Level of new resources which local options can provide is likely to fall far short of addressing ASD’s overall needs • Evidence indicates more local tax hikes are unacceptable and would discourage future investment in the area County Options Problematic • Merging districts creates significant local control issues and political challenges • With a county-wide property tax increase, all residents would pay more even though 2/3 of Lehigh County school districts are already above statewide average property tax effort

  13. V. Conclusions Overall, the state-level options are considered the strongest candidates for achieving the goals of both ASD and Lehigh County School Districts

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