Education spending trends deliver mixed results

(THE CENTER SQUARE) – New analysis of prepandemic education spending trends and their correlating academic growth offers a mixed bag of results in Pennsylvania. The Reason Foundation published a report Thursday that compares boosted investment into public schools by federal, state and local governments – i.e., taxpayers – between 2002 and 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic.

After adjusting for inflation, education revenue – two-thirds of which comes from local taxes – climbed 49.1% during the two decades, the sixth highest in the nation. Employee benefit spending ballooned by 173.6%, ranking third, while costs for instruction and support services grew roughly 34%, ranking ninth and 18th, respectively.

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During the same time, reading and math test scores for fourth and eighth graders had single-digit percentage growth, falling in the middle of the pack nationally. Enrollment and teacher salaries declined slightly, too.

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