School Spending Boost, Revised Funding Formula Pressed in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell reserved one of the few increases in his proposed fiscal 2009 budget for education, saying last week that it is important to begin funneling money into a new, fairer school funding formula, as a legislative study has recommended.

In his budget address Feb. 5, the governor proposed a $28.3 billion spending plan for the Keystone State, 4.2 percent more than the fiscal 2008 budget. If the legislature adopts his proposal, precollegiate spending will rise 4.7 percent, to $9.8 billion.

One of the biggest chunks of education spending, the basic education subsidy, could get an increase of 5.9 percent, or $291 million, thanks in part to Gov. Rendell’s desire to address inequities in the way Pennsylvania funds...