IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2016 | Page 82

Brentwood
Borough
School
District

SUPERINTENDENT’S

M E S S A G E

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BY DR . AMY M. BURCH

Education: The Casualty of the
Pennsylvania Structural Deficit
As the Superintendent of the Brentwood Borough School District, I
see first-hand how decisions in Harrisburg impact our schools and
communities. The goal of this article is to bring into the spotlight
the fact that Pennsylvania is facing a severe structural deficit that
is significantly impacting education. To truly understand why the
Pennsylvania legislature and the Governor have not been able to
agree on an education budget, it is necessary to step outside the
world of education and examine the consequences that occur
when a budget is not balanced.

Structural Deficit and Underfunding
Pennsylvania’s structural deficit didn’t occur overnight, but rather it
is a compilation of events dating back to the 1970’s. The “enacted”
budget, completed in December, included modest increases in
special education, Ready to Learn Block Grants, early childhood
and six months of basic education funding, the largest source of
funding for school districts. The budget did not include any new
sources of revenue. This imbalance is only making Pennsylvania’s
structural deficit larger. Listed below is the current and projected
structural deficit as defined by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy
Center based on data from the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO).
Year
2015-2016
2016-2017
2017-2018

Deficit
318 million
1.860 billion
2.18 billion

Year
2018-2019
2019-2020
2020-2021

Deficit
2.3 billion
2.6 billion
2.6 billion

Lack of Sufficient Revenues
Pennsylvania’s structural deficit is due to the long standing
imbalanced budget and if no new revenue sources are created

80 Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall

then the imbalance will continue to increase. No one wants more
taxes, but it is a reality that we are already facing. The longer the
General Assembly goes without implementing any new revenues,
the more the burden will be shifted to the local level. This will be
evident in higher local property taxes. The direct impact of failing
to identify new resources includes increasing the structural deficit,
the lowering of the state’s credit rating (again), and increasing
interest rate costs.

Pennsylvania’s Budget Crisis
Pennsylvania schools are operating without a complete budget.
The partial budget enacted in December authorized basic
education funding for six months and provided no allocation for
PlanCon, the state’s program that after a lengthy process partially
reimburses districts for construction and building projects. In
addition, the state created a two month lag time of social security
reimbursements.
The chart below illustrates what this means for the Brentwood
Borough School District:
Funding Sources Anticipated Received
Loss of
Funding
Funding
Basic Education $4,577,200
$1,991,721 $2,585,479
PlanCon
$573,665
$0
$573,655
Social Security
$65,000
$0
$65,000

for two months
$3,224,134
Total

These lack of dollars coupled with increases in pension
contributions and unfunded mandates are directly impacting the
Brentwood Borough School District.