Fifty school districts across Pennsylvania, including seven in Delaware County, with serious property tax burdens will get extra money as part of the state’s effort to overhaul education funding in the budget for this year, writes Kate Huangpu for the WHYY.

The total allocation for all school districts is $32 million, with the individual supplements ranging from $50,000 to $5 million. The program targets school districts with high local taxes compared to their residents’ wealth.

State law directs local school boards to use these extra funds to mitigate or prevent property tax increases, supplement their existing tax reduction programs, and reduce debt.

The tax equity supplements are among responses to a Commonwealth Court decision that determined Pennsylvania’s public school funding system is unconstitutionally inequitable. The main source of that inequity is property taxes.

Here is the full list of Delaware County school districts receiving supplements:

• Southeast Delco School District ($1,622,461.66)
• Chichester School District ($1,470,470.47)
• William Penn School District ($1,215,861.59)
• Ridley School District ($962,797.88)
• Upper Darby School District ($781,551.05)
• Wallingford-Swarthmore School District ($368,138.04)
• Interboro School District ($316,784.1)

Read more about the extra state funding coming to seven financially distressed Delaware County school districts in the WHYY.

Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on DELCO Today in August 2024.