Educators urge Legislature to fix system (i.e. spend more)

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on the latest call for increased state spending on education from the Education Policy and Leadership Center. Their drumbeat is that the state's share is only 38% of the total spending on K-12 education.

What they fail to mention is that state spending has grown dramatically - only local spending and property taxes have skyrocketed.

(Click for Full Chart)

As the chart illustrates, state spending on K-12 schools has gone up 73% - after adjusting for inflation - since 1984-85. Yet local spending has increased by 92%. (Federal spending on PA schools has increased 130% in inflation-adjust terms, but still represents only about 4% of funding)