Op/Ed: Candidates don’t understand

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on November 6, 2023

In Chadds Ford and Pennsbury townships, we pay significant property taxes for our schools. Commensurately, we have top-notch schools in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District where Unionville High School was just ranked 307 nationally and sixth in Pennsylvania by U.S. News & World Report. However, UCFSD has the fifth lowest millage (tax) rate of the twelve school districts in Chester County. Millage rates in Coatesville are nearly 50 percent higher than in Pennsbury and, in Delaware County, the millage rate in Chichester is nearly double that in Chadds Ford. Comparatively, not only are we paying significantly lower property taxes, but our school district is significantly better.

As many people know, public school funding in Pennsylvania is broken. On Feb. 7 of this year, the state Commonwealth Court ruled that Pennsylvania’s school funding system was unconstitutional for insufficiently funding local schools and ordered the state legislature to fix the system. Of all fifty states, Pennsylvania contributes the sixth lowest percentage of public school revenue to its school districts. In fact, the state only contributes 19 percent of the annual UCFSD budgetary revenue, while our local taxes constitute roughly 80 percent of total revenue. We should all be upset by our property taxes because the truth is that Harrisburg will continue to pass the buck to us for school funding until they feel enough pressure from voters to change the system.

In terms of expenditures, 73 percent of the UCFSD budget is salary and benefits for our teachers, support staff, bus drivers, and administration. Another 7 percent is outsourced staffing, such as substitute teachers and occupational therapists, and 10 percent is comprised of our debt financing. Extracurricular activities including athletics cost less than 2 percent of the total budget. The only way for the school board to make meaningful cuts to the budget is to fire teachers, bus drivers, or support staff and that will not improve the quality of education that our students receive. School board candidates who tell you they will lower your taxes and improve the schools either don’t understand school budgets or are lying to you.