Study Finds Need for Sharp School Spending Hike in Pa.

Pennsylvania must increase education spending by nearly 27 percent in order to reach its goal of bringing all students to proficiency in mathematics and reading by 2014, according to a financial analysis ordered by state lawmakers.

School finance consultants John Augenblick, Robert Palaich, and Justin Silverstein told the Pennsylvania board of education Nov. 14 that overall spending on education in the state would have to grow by $4.6 billion per year—or $2,500 more per child, on average—if it is to meet the targets laid out by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Their projections were part of a briefing to the state board in Harrisburg on key findings of a “costing-out” study that their Denver-based company, Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates, recently completed. The state legislature asked for the study in July 2006, and in December, the state education department tapped Mr. Augenblick’s company to do it. But given the political difficulties of channeling billions more into education, the outlook for...