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Less Affluent Districts To Bear Brunt Of Corbett Education Cuts

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When Governor Tom Corbett urged the legislature to cut public school funding by 10 percent across the board, that didn't mean every school district would lose the same amount of money.

Complicated formulas dictate which districts lose the most money. The hardest hit districts include:

  • Duquesne - $2,561 per student
  • Clairton - $1,480 per student
  • Pittsburgh - $1,220 per student
  • Sto-Rox - $1,149 per student
  • McKeesport - $1,014 per student
  • Pat Sable has been the business manager for three school districts and says those with higher assessed property values and wealthier residents get less state basic education funding and are suffering less under the Corbett cuts.

    Those districts include:

  • Quaker Valley - $121 per student
  • Fox Chapel - $122 per student
  • Upper St. Clair - $135 per student
  • South Fayette - $152 per student
  • Mt. Lebanon - $156 per student
  • With Corbett education cuts affecting schools disproportionately, Sable says the problem is that it is a lot harder for less wealthy school districts to make up the lost money.

    "Even if, for example, like the school district of the city of Duquesne wanted to raise taxes, the ability to pay is just not there," he said.

    That leaves only one option – cut programs unless teachers and administrators take a pay freeze.

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