Opinion: School districts must confront tough choices to protect public education

Opinion: School Districts Must Confront Tough Choices to Protect Public Education

Across Pennsylvania, public education is at a turning point. Rising costs, uncertain state and federal budgets, and a declining number of school-age children have created one of the most challenging fiscal environments in decades.

For school boards, including Bethlehem’s, this moment calls for both courage and creativity. Protecting the quality of education means being willing to consider every possible solution — from redistricting and school consolidation to the realignment of programs.

“Leadership sometimes means doing the uncomfortable to protect the essential.”

This conversation is not about abandoning core values but about preserving them under new realities. In Harrisburg, the ongoing state budget debate has again delayed key funding decisions for education. Despite last year’s Commonwealth Court ruling that Pennsylvania’s school funding system is unconstitutional, lawmakers remain divided on a fair funding formula.

Although the current plan includes small increases in basic and special education subsidies, a lasting solution remains out of reach. For local districts, this uncertainty is deeply destabilizing. In Bethlehem and throughout the Lehigh Valley, more than two-thirds of school budgets come from local property taxes, yet inflation, rising transportation costs, and salary obligations outpace local revenue growth.

Author’s Summary

Pennsylvania’s schools face mounting fiscal pressure, demanding bold and innovative leadership to safeguard the future of public education.

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The Morning Call The Morning Call — 2025-11-08

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