Calls for more public school spending are growing louder in states like Texas, pennsylvaniaand New York. “You’re going to see horrific cuts,” warned Texas Rep. Jon Rosenthal, who leads a group of Democratic lawmakers. Strict requirements Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session to increase education funding in the state.
Public school budgets are in shambles heading into the next school year, but it’s not due to a lack of funding — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 windfall for public schools has backfired. Congressional funding during the epidemic $190 billion K-12 relief aid created a fiscal cliff and fueled inflation that is now eating into school district budgets.
latest federation data K-12 spending hit a record high in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. $29,019), Connecticut ($28,363 per student), Vermont ($27,338 per student) and Pennsylvania ($24,917 per student). In the case of Texas, per-pupil spending is $14,696, a real increase of 16.8% since 2002.
But public school finances are getting choppy. Inflation-adjusted funding increased by $1,300 per student between 2020 and 2022, but nearly all of that ($1,245 per student) was attributed to a temporary surge in federal funding.
Experts have repeatedly stressed the importance of public schools using one-time funds to add staff, increase salaries or fill budget holes. warn Opposition — With federal relief aid set to expire later this year, a fiscal reckoning has arrived.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that school finances are at an inflection point.” wrote Marguerite Roza of the Economics of Education Laboratory at Georgetown University. and the National Center for Education Statistics projection Enrollment will continue to decline until at least 2030 School closure Coming soon and already in progress seattle, Phoenix, saint antonyand other cities.
But the bigger question is how much inflation is eroding state and local funding, which accounts for largest share K-$12. In the 2022 school year, the monthly average price level is up 9.6% That’s more than enough to offset the significant increase in state legislatures compared to two years ago.
Non-federal aid increased nominally by $1,485 per student between 2020 and 2022, but only increased by $55 per student when adjusted for inflation. By comparison, non-federal aid per student increased by $1,204 in nominal terms and after adjusting for inflation between 2018 and 2020, the two years before the COVID-19 outbreak. For $769. If inflation remains at pre-pandemic levels, the additional funding increase will be about $938 per student in public schools.
But don’t feel too sorry for public schools—they’re getting the results of union lobbying.
Congress allocated $190 billion in federal K-12 relief aid in three separate bills. By the time Biden takes office in January 2021, the first two packages will total $67.5 billion——Has been delivered to the school district, including research shows Enough to safely reopen public schools.
But at the urging of groups like national education association, national school boards associationand American Federation of Teachers (AFT)Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March 2021, which included additional $122 billion For K-12 education.
“Rescue in the American Rescue Plan [ARPA] This goal was made possible because hard-working advocates like union members and their coalition partners worked tirelessly to appeal to lawmakers, write petitions, and lead campaigns to articulate the needs of the American people and provide help. brag back.
Many economists—including former Barack Obama adviser Larry Summers—warn about the financial impact of ARPA, but teachers unions and other interest groups have ignored their calls. Although it is difficult to determine the impact of ARPA on price levels, consensus It has helped inflation reach its highest level in decades. K-12 relief dollars are spent on things like Electrification of bus fleet, Football field upgradeand social emotional learningit’s also safe to say that public schools never need the money in the first place.
ARPA’s legacy will be financial instability for public schools. In the coming years, they will grapple with the fallout from pandemic spending decisions and the rampant inflation they lobbied for. In the long run, public schools would be better off without Biden’s $122 billion donation to teachers unions.
