The state of Pennsylvania cannot manage to pass a budget and education is suffering as a result. According to the state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, school districts in Pennsylvania have been forced to borrow an astonishing $350 million as they wait for bureaucrats and politicians to come to terms on a simple budget. At least 17 districts have already taken out loans. The interest payment and total cost of borrowing on these wasteful lines of credit will exceed $1 billion if a budget isn’t reached before the state’s next scheduled payment to the districts on November 1. It has already missed two payments to the schools, and the vast costs already endured will, of course, come from the pockets of taxpayers. Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a stopgap budget last week that would have staved off more borrowing.
“Instead of focusing on education, schools across the state are having meetings to try and figure out how to get by every month and shopping banks for loans that will hopefully allow them to keep the lights on,” DePasquale told Watchdog.com. The Erie City school department had “cash available until October,” per the most recent auditor’s report and is “considering borrowing $30 million” or “shutting schools or asking employees to work without pay” to deal with the lack of funds. Steelton-Highspire is in a similar situation considering an $8 million line of credit, and Western Beaver County is “considering suing the commonwealth.” All told, nearly 30 more districts may have to borrow another $122 million in October. “It is going to turn into a crisis if the budget doesn’t get passed now,” DePasquale told Watchdog.
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