(Photo illustration by Natasha Vicens/PublicSource)
The loss of one-time federal funds could lead to severe financial implications for the school district.
Pittsburgh Public Schools [PPS] has increased staffing levels, fueled by federal pandemic relief funds, even as it continues seeing a steady decline in student enrollment. While student enrollment has declined by 17% since 2017, PPS has increased staffing by 3.5%.
With the end of one-time pandemic-relief funds looming and tighter budgets, education policy experts say the district may need to rethink its expanded labor force.
PPS spends more money per student than many other similarly sized districts and, notably, even one of the region’s most affluent and high-achieving districts.
Per-pupil spending in the city school district has consistently increased every year. In 2020-21, the district invested about $28,180 per student. In comparison, the Penn Hills School District spent $19,870 per pupil, and the Fox Chapel Area School District spent $24,135.
But the district’s per-pupil infusion is not translating into improved student outcomes and could potentially lead to fiscal challenges in the coming years, with the expiration of the pandemic relief funds in 2024.
“There’s a problem brewing in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Some tough financial choices are coming. The sooner they make them, the more there’ll be money available to help these kids get back on track,” said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab, a research center at Georgetown University. Roza researches state and national education spending trends, and PublicSource briefed her on trends at PPS.
Several factors are contributing to Pittsburgh’s outsized per-pupil spending. Chief among them is that the district has seen a steady 2% drop in student enrollment every year, with little action taken to address the declines, like consolidating buildings or adjusting the size of the workforce.
In fact, the district’s number of employees has grown and the teacher’s union has been largely successful in its contract negotiations — a process it is beginning again at the end of this month.
The result: Relatively high teacher pay along with relatively low student-to-teacher ratios.