School districts across Pennsylvania say that budget stress is causing them to raise property taxes and cut school programs, according to an annual survey released by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
The report targets the rise of mandated expenses such as pension obligations, special-education costs and charter school payments as key drivers of budget woes.
The annual report is similar to those in years past, and calls for the state to make greater investments in school funding to support the education of the state’s 1.7 million public school students.