Continued Cuts: The Fourth-Annual PASA-PASBO Report on School District Budgets

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Continued Cuts: The Fourth-Annual PASA-PASBO Report on School District Budgets

Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, June 2014

Lingering effects of the 2008 recession, increasing education mandates that siphon-off resources for classroom instruction and rising pension and health care costs have resulted in unprecedented pressures on the Commonwealth’s education community. In response, school districts across Pennsylvania continue to reduce academic and extracurricular programs and raise local taxes to balance budgets. In 2011 and 2012 alone, more than 23,000 Pennsylvania school employees lost their jobs.

The fourth annual Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) report draws on a survey of Pennsylvania school districts to provide as current an analysis as possible on the challenges confronting our public schools and students. With 279 districts providing responses, our sample represents more than 1,000,000 of the Commonwealth’s traditional K-12 public school students.

Our report represents the most comprehensive accounting yet of the difficult decisions implemented in districts statewide since the start of the recession. In addition, the analysis looks ahead to planned reductions and tax increases in the coming 2014-15 fiscal year. Based on district responses and publicly available data, we examine changes to academic and extra-curricular programs, class size increases, staffing adjustments, and overall district financial health.


Published: June 2014
Authors: 
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials
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