PRINTER'S NO. 1855
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1662
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY MULLINS, FLYNN, ZABEL, SANCHEZ, SCHLOSSBERG,
CIRESI, KIRKLAND, HILL-EVANS, WEBSTER, PASHINSKI, MALAGARI,
R. BROWN, McCLINTON, O'MARA, N. NELSON AND D. WILLIAMS,
JUNE 17, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JUNE 17, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in preliminary provisions, further
providing for Basic Education Funding Commission; and, in
reimbursements by Commonwealth and between school districts,
further providing for student-weighted basic education
funding, providing for student-weighted basic education
funding formula and for student weighted basic education
funding formula for school years 2020-2021 and thereafter and
further providing for payment of required contribution for
public school employees' social security.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 123(i) of the act of March 10, 1949
(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is
amended by adding a paragraph to read:
Section 123. Basic Education Funding Commission.--* * *
(i) The commission shall have all of the following powers
and duties:
* * *
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(8.1) Prior to recommending a basic education funding
formula under this section, consider the potential consequences,
including funding inequities by race, of a basic education
funding formula that does not allocate all State basic education
funding through the determined formula.
* * *
Section 2. Section 2502.53 heading and (b) introductory
paragraph of the act, amended June 5, 2020 (P.L.223, No.30), are
amended to read:
Section 2502.53. Student-Weighted Basic Education Funding
for School Years 2015-2016 through 2019-2020.--* * *
(b) For the 2015-2016 school year and each school year
[thereafter, except the 2019-2020 school year which shall be
governed by subsection (b.1),] through the 2018-2019, the
Commonwealth shall pay to each school district a basic education
funding allocation which shall consist of the following:
* * *
Section 3. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 2502.55. Student-Weighted Basic Education Funding
Formula. --(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that , in
fulfillment of its duties to maintain and support a thorough and
efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the
Commonwealth under section 14 of Article III of the Constitution
of Pennsylvania, the student-weighted basic education funding
formula is the result of the work of the Basic Education Funding
Commission established under section 123.
(b) Through the Student-Weighted Basic Education Funding
Formula, the Commonwealth shall pay to each school district a
basic education funding allocation to be calculated as follows:
(1) Multiply the school district's student-weighted average
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daily membership by the median household income index and local
effort capacity index.
(2) Multiply the product in paragraph (1) by the amount
specified or calculated for a student-based allocation to school
districts.
(3) Divide the product in paragraph (2) by the sum of the
products in paragraph (1) for all school districts.
(c) For the purpose of this section:
(1) Student-weighted average daily membership for a school
district shall be the sum of the following:
(i) The average of the school district's three most recent
years' average daily membership.
(ii) The acute poverty average daily membership calculated
as follows:
(A) Multiply the school district's acute poverty percentage
by its average daily membership.
(B) Multiply the product in clause (A) by six-tenths (0.6).
(iii) The poverty average daily membership calculated as
follows:
(A) Multiply the school district's poverty percentage by its
average daily membership.
(B) Multiply the product in clause (A) by three-tenths
(0.3).
(iv) The concentrated poverty average daily membership for
qualifying school districts with an acute poverty percentage
equal to or greater than thirty percent (30%), to be calculated
as follows:
(A) Multiply the school district's acute poverty percentage
by its average daily membership.
(B) Multiply the product in clause (A) by three-tenths
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(0.3).
(v) The number of the school district's limited English-
proficient students multiplied by six-tenths (0.6).
(vi) The average daily membership for the school district's
students enrolled in charter schools and cyber charter schools
multiplied by two-tenths (0.2).
(vii) The sparsity/size adjustment for qualifying school
districts with a sparsity/size ratio greater than the
sparsity/size ratio that represents the seventieth percentile
sparsity/size ratio for all school districts calculated as
follows:
(A) Divide the school district's sparsity/size ratio by the
sparsity/size ratio that represents the seventieth percentile
for all school districts.
(B) Subtract one (1) from the quotient in clause (A).
(C) Multiply the sum of subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii),
(iv), (v) and (vi) by the amount in clause (B).
(D) Multiply the product in clause (C) by seven-tenths
(0.7).
(2) Local effort index for a school district shall be
calculated as follows:
(i) Determine the school district's local effort factor
calculated as follows:
(A) Multiply the school district's median household income
by its number of households.
(B) Divide the school district's local tax-related revenue
by the product in clause (A).
(C) Multiply the quotient in clause (B) by one thousand
(1,000).
(D) Divide the product in clause (C) by the Statewide median
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of clause (C).
(ii) Determine the school district's excess spending factor,
to be calculated as follows:
(A) Divide the school district's current expenditures by the
sum of its average daily membership and the amounts in paragraph
(1)(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi) and (vii).
(B) Divide the quotient in clause (A) by the Statewide
median of clause (A).
(C) Divide one (1) by the quotient in clause (B).
(iii) Multiply the school district's local effort factor by
the lesser of one (1) or the school district's excess spending
factor.
(3) Local capacity index for a qualifying school district
shall be calculated as follows:
(i) Divide the school district's local tax-related revenue
by the sum of its market value and personal income valuation.
(ii) Multiply the sum of the school district's market value
and personal income valuation by the Statewide median of
subparagraph (i).
(iii) Determine the school district's local capacity per
student by dividing the product in subparagraph (ii) by the sum
of its average daily membership and the amounts in paragraph (1)
(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi) and (vii).
(iv) If the school district's local capacity per student is
less than the Statewide median of subparagraph (iii):
(A) Divide the school district's local capacity per student
by the Statewide median.
(B) Subtract the quotient in clause (A) from one (1).
(4) Local effort capacity index for a school district shall
equal the sum of its local effort index and local capacity
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index.
(5) The data used to calculate the factors and indexes in
this section shall be based on the most recent years for which
data is available as determined by the Department of Education
and be fixed as of the first day of June preceding the school
year in which the allocation occurs. Data fixed on the first day
of June shall be revised by the Department of Education if it is
subsequently found to be incorrect.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Acute poverty percentage" shall mean the number of
children six (6) to seventeen (17) years of age living in a
household where the ratio of income to poverty is less than one
hundred percent (100%) of the Federal poverty guidelines divided
by the total number of children six (6) to seventeen (17) years
of age as determined by the most recent five-year estimate of
the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
(1.1) "Current expenditures" shall mean the General Fund
expenditures in functional classifications of instruction,
support services and operation of noninstructional services.
Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, "current expenditures"
shall mean the General Fund expenditures in functional
classifications of instruction, support services and operation
of noninstructional services, minus General Fund revenues for
tuition from patrons.
(2) "Households" shall mean the number of households in each
school district as determined by the most recent five-year
estimate of the United States Census Bureau's American Community
Survey.
(3) "Local tax-related revenue" shall mean the sum of school
district revenues for State property tax reduction allocation,
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taxes levied and assessed, delinquencies on taxes levied and
assessed, revenue from local government units and other local
revenues not specified elsewhere, as designated in the Manual of
Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pennsylvania Public
Schools. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, revenues
received by a school district from the sales and use tax and the
cigarette tax shall be included when determining a school
district's local tax-related revenue under this section.
(4) "Median household income" shall mean the median
household income for school districts and the State as
determined by the most recent five-year estimate of the United
States Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
(5) "Median household income index" shall mean a number
calculated as follows:
(i) Divide a school district's median household income by
the State median household income.
(ii) Divide one (1) by the quotient in subparagraph (i).
(6) "Poverty percentage" shall mean the number of children
six (6) to seventeen (17) years of age living in a household
where the ratio of income to poverty is between one hundred
percent (100%) and one hundred eighty-four percent (184%) of the
Federal poverty guidelines divided by the total number of
children six (6) to seventeen (17) years of age as determined by
the most recent five-year estimate of the United States Census
Bureau's American Community Survey.
(7) "Size ratio" shall mean a number calculated as follows:
(i) Divide the average of a school district's three (3) most
recent years' average daily membership by the Statewide average
of the three (3) most recent years' average daily membership for
all school districts.
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(ii) Multiply the amount in subparagraph (i) by five-tenths
(0.5).
(iii) Subtract the amount in subparagraph (ii) from one (1).
(8) "Sparsity ratio" shall mean a number calculated as
follows:
(i) Divide the average of a school district's three (3) most
recent years' average daily membership by its total square miles
as reported in the latest decennial census as reported by the
United States Census Bureau.
(ii) Divide the State total average daily membership by the
State total square miles.
(iii) Divide the quotient in subparagraph (i) by the
quotient in subparagraph (ii).
(iv) Multiply the quotient in subparagraph (iii) by five-
tenths (0.5).
(v) Subtract the product in subparagraph (iv) from one (1).
(9) "Sparsity/size ratio" shall mean a number calculated by
adding the following amounts:
(i) The sparsity ratio multiplied by four-tenths (0.4).
(ii) The size ratio multiplied by six-tenths (0.6).
Section 2502.56. Student Weighted Basic Education Funding
Formula for School Years 2020-2021 and Thereafter.--(a) For the
2020-2021 school year and each school year thereafter, the
Commonwealth shall pay to each school district a basic education
funding allocation which shall consist of the following:
(1) An amount equal to the school district's basic education
funding allocation for the 2013-2014 school year. The following
shall apply:
(i) Payments made under section 2502.54 shall be deemed to
be part of the school district's allocation amount under
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paragraph (1).
(ii) The amount of educational access program funding
received in the 2017-2018 fiscal year by a school district
identified for financial watch status under section 694-A shall
be deemed to be a part of the school district's allocation
amount under paragraph (1).
(2) A catch-up amount for qualifying school districts
calculated as follows:
(i) Subtract the amount appropriated for basic education
funding for school year 2020-2021 from the amount appropriated
for basic education funding for the current school year.
(ii) Multiply seventy-five hundredths (0.75) by the
difference determined in subparagraph (i) .
(iii) For each qualifying school district, multiply the
product in section 2502.55(b)(1) by the product of subparagraph
(ii) .
(iv) Divide the product in subparagraph (iii) by the sum of
the products in section 2502.55(b)(1) for all qualifying school
districts.
(3) All remaining funding shall be distributed according to
the student-student based allocation determined by section
2502.55(b).
(b) For the purposes of this section, the process for
determining a qualifying school district shall be as follows:
(1) For each school district, multiply the product in
section 2502.55(b)(1) by the total amount allocated to all
school districts in paragraph (a)(1).
(2) For each school district, divide the product in
subparagraph (i) by the sum of the products in section
2502.55(b)(1) for all school districts.
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(3) For each school district, subtract the quotient in
subparagraph (ii) from the school district's allocation in
paragraph (a)(1).
(4) For each school district, divide the difference in (iii)
by the school district's average daily membership.
(5) A qualifying school district shall have a quotient under
paragraph (4) of less than or equal to $200.
Section 4. Section 2599.7(b), (c) and (d) of the act,
amended June 5, 2020 (P.L.223, No.30), are amended to read:
Section 2599.7. Payment of Required Contribution for Public
School Employes' Social Security.--* * *
(b) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, through
fiscal year 2020-2021, payment of the amounts calculated under
24 Pa.C.S. § 8329 for school districts shall be made from the
appropriation for basic education funding.
(c) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, through
fiscal year 2020-2021, if insufficient funds are available for
payment of the amounts calculated under 24 Pa.C.S. § 8329 for
school districts, the Department of Education shall notify the
Governor, the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the chairperson and
minority chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the
House of Representatives of the amount of the insufficiency. An
amount equal to the insufficiency may only be paid to school
districts from a supplemental appropriation in the general
appropriations act.
(d) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, through
fiscal year 2020-2021, if the amount calculated for payments to
school districts under 24 Pa.C.S. § 8329 exceeds the amount
necessary, the Department of Education shall notify the
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Governor, the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the chairperson and
minority chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the
House of Representatives of the amount of the excess. An amount
equal to the excess shall be distributed to school districts as
a supplemental payment calculated under the formula contained in
section 2502.53.
* * *
Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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