Joseph Long fears for the future of his Luzerne County school district, along with similar small, rural districts statewide.
Northwest Area will raise property taxes 5% for 2025-26, eliminate three teaching positions and cover its deficit with a disappearing fund balance.
It’s a scenario happening in districts throughout Northeast Pennsylvania — one that rural superintendents blame on Pennsylvania now directing the great majority of new education spending toward the districts that had previously been deemed underfunded.
The rural districts face some of the same issues the underfunded, urban districts faced a decade ago: how to cover growing costs when state funding fails to keep pace.
Long formed a coalition of superintendents earlier this year, advocating for the state to study its funding formula, pass cyber charter school funding reform and to understand the unique, challenging issues of Pennsylvania’s rural schools.
The leaders don't diminish the struggles faced by urban schools, and others that were underfunded for decades. But if the state ignores the issue, the superintendents fear they will need to cut programs and staff.
Northwest Area would receive $31,510 in new basic education funding under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal. Legislators, deep in debate in Harrisburg, must pass a 2025-26 spending plan by July 1.
“If we don't find a way to make our ends meet, we will be broke,” Long said. “I always say it would do no justice to anyone out here that we would fail and have to close or merge or anything like this. It's truly a special place.”
School funding lawsuit, funding formula
Education advocates have long debated the way Pennsylvania funds public schools. In February 2023, Commonwealth Court ruled that the state’s system to fund education was unconstitutional. The court ordered the state to fix it, and the Basic Education Funding Commission provided a report in 2024.
Since Shapiro became governor in 2023, the Legislature has directed more than $2 billion more for K-12 public education, the largest investment in Pennsylvania history. His 2025-26 budget proposal includes $526 million in adequacy formula funding — the exact number bipartisan leaders agreed to last year — and a $75 million increase in basic education funding.
Basic education funding is the largest state funding source for districts, and some districts now receive adequacy funds. The adequacy funding has allowed many districts to expand programs, hire new staff and increase opportunities for students.
The Scranton School District, once at risk of state receivership, has received a $28.4 million increase — or nearly 40% — in state money over the last three years. Total state funding for the Lackawanna County district has increased from $73.6 million in 2022-23 to $102 million in 2024-25.
Wilkes-Barre, with $8.4 million in adequacy funding proposed for next year, has used additional money to pay for staff for STEM programs, add educational coaches and implement programs that focus on mental health and achievement. With more funding, the district hopes to expand its successful Learning Academy.
And the funding has also helped smaller, rural schools that qualify for adequacy funds. For example, Panther Valley in Carbon County has used part of its $1.8 million in new money to maintain full-day kindergarten and update curriculum. Shenandoah Valley in Schuylkill County has used some of its $1 million to pay for teachers to help non-English speaking students learn the language, according to PA Schools Work, an organization that advocates for fair funding.
Of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, 348 would share about $500 million in adequacy funding under Shapiro’s proposal. All districts would receive a portion of the $75 million increase in basic education funding.
Whether a district receives adequacy funding — or a portion of the $500 million — depends on a formula that looks at how much the district spends and how much should be enough to provide services for its demographics. Districts with the highest local tax burdens can also receive additional funding.
Shapiro highlighted the gains made by Scranton during a visit to the district’s Isaac Tripp Elementary School last month. WVIA News asked Shapiro about the struggles faced by rural school districts.
“I'm not sure why they're cutting back. We've increased funding for those schools,” he said. “If I have anything to say over it in the budget that I proposed, we're going to continue to invest in those schools and make sure they have what they need, and we're going to level out the imbalance that has existed over decades here … Under my proposal, every single district does better, and those that have been chronically underfunded do even better, because they deserve more help trying to dig out from the hole that they were in.”
Urban, rural perspective in Tunkhannock
Paul Dougherty understands the strain and challenges of educating students in an underfunded school district. The longtime administrator in Scranton saw programs eliminated and staff cut, as the district accumulated a deficit of almost $30 million.
Now the superintendent in Tunkhannock, he knows a district shouldn’t use one-time revenue to pay for recurring expenses, such as payroll.
But the 2025-26 budget does just that.
School directors approved a budget last week that raises property taxes 4.8% and uses $900,000 of the fund balance to cover the deficit. The elimination of 11 staff members through attrition will lead to slightly larger class sizes.
“That is a very slippery slope, because when you start making payroll and paying your electric bill with the fund balance, it disappears very quickly,” Dougherty said.
Shapiro’s budget proposal calls for the Wyoming County district to receive an additional $60,239 in basic education funding. Just the district’s mandated increase to the state pension system will be $250,000 for next year, Dougherty said.
“They're not giving us anything close to what's needed, and essentially, they're shifting the entire burden onto local taxpayers,” he said. “I know firsthand the needs that urban schools have, but you can't leave another subset of schools behind, and that's what's occurring.”
Gas royalties not enough to avoid tax increases
Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation under Susquehanna County started more than 15 years ago. Some years, the Montrose Area School District, which sits in the northern part of the county, received about $1.8 million from gas extraction. The district doesn’t have wells on its property, but it still receives royalty funds from what exists beneath.
The royalty money helped the district balance budgets without tax increases. Now the royalties are about $400,000 per year.
“Without that, we would be bankrupt, because I don't think you can raise taxes to that level,” Superintendent Christopher McComb said.
The proposed state budget provides no adequacy funding for Montrose, so the district budget raises property taxes 4.8% for next year. Montrose will use $1 million of its fund balance to cover the deficit.
Beyond fixing a complicated funding formula, McComb and the other rural superintendents point to an issue they say would provide immediate relief: cyber charter school funding reform.
Superintendents say cyber charter reform needed
From 2020 to 2023, five cyber charter schools increased revenues by $425 million and reserves by 144%, due in part to an outdated funding formula that does not use actual instruction costs to determine tuition, set guidelines for spending or set limits for cyber charter school reserve funds, according to a report released by Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor in February.
Enrollment at Commonwealth Charter Academy, the largest cyber charter school in the state, more than doubled in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing from 9,300 to 20,400 students from 2020 to 2023. The school now has an enrollment of more than 34,000. While school district leaders call for reform, cyber charter advocates call for the continued need for options for families.
A bill passed by the Democrat-led state House this month would set an $8,000 base tuition rate, saving school districts $616 million.
Montrose, which is projecting a cyber charter enrollment of 84 students in the fall, currently spends $16,000 per non-special education student, and about double that for special education students, McComb said.
Legislation proposed by Sen. Rosemary Brown, who serves Monroe County and part of Lackawanna and Wayne counties, could also have a significant impact. The Republican has proposed that a district that offers a cyber-charter program equal in scope and content to a cyber charter school would only be required to pay for the tuition costs up to the amount that the home school district spends per pupil in its cyber-charter program.
In Tunkhannock, the district spends $3.2 million for 131 students to enroll in cyber charter schools. An in-house cyber program for 84 kids costs $289,000, Dougherty said.
At Elk Lake in Susquehanna County, the cyber reform passed by the House could save the district almost half a million dollars, Superintendent Bob Galella said.
Elk Lake plans to vote on a budget this week. As of last week, the budget had a $1.8 million deficit and a likely tax increase. The governor's budget includes $117,597 in adequacy funding for Elk Lake, not enough to close the deficit.
Galella calls the state funding formula for school districts “broken.” The superintendents say that using one formula for all 500 districts is bound to have flaws and cause inequity.
“I'm not being provided the funding that is needed, and that's where my aggravation comes … Our voices have been heard,” Galella said.
Looking for solutions in Harrisburg
Working with the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, the superintendents have visited Harrisburg, hosted state legislators and held town hall meetings to discuss their concerns about the future of their school districts.
At Northwest Area last month, the district hosted a discussion with state leaders. Those in attendance included Carrie Rowe, acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and two Republican state senators: Lisa Baker, whose 20th District includes Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties and part of Luzerne County, and Lynda Schlegel Culver, chair of the Senate Education Committee, whose 27th District includes all of Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Snyder counties and part of Luzerne County.
The senators said they support a review of funding for cyber charter schools and want to see equity and fairness in funding for all schools.
“Driving all the money out under this new formula has proven to be an ineffective way to address every school in the commonwealth,” Baker said. “Everybody talks about wanting fairness and equality, but, you know, we now have witnessed what happens when the pendulum goes the other direction, and I'm very concerned when I hear from students and alumni who think their school district could close. That is a grave concern.”
Rural school districts want predictability, Schlegel Culver said.
“They're not feeling as though the current proposal gives them that, and they're looking for us to achieve a budget that gives them that stability and predictability and honestly, equity between the school districts,” she said. “Rural districts typically don't have the same tax base to draw from. They don't have the same industry in their areas. You know, they don't have other businesses. You know, they don't have the amount of homeowners or properties that they can receive tax from. So that concerns us as well.”
Baker said uncertainty at the federal level, including for Medicaid spending, have complicated state budget negotiations.
A call to 'Save Northwest'
Northwest Area, with an enrollment of 950 students, encompasses 119 square miles. The Susquehanna River flows at the eastern edge, and Sullivan and Columbia counties sit to the west.
The district has as many students as the Old Forge School District in Lackawanna County — but Old Forge encompasses only 3.4 square miles.
Northwest has made tough decisions before, including closing libraries and cutting art.
But Long walks through the halls, calling students by their first names. Band practice can be heard from the hallway. He points to the successes — a life skills program running a morning coffee shop, a student-led branch of the Cross Valley Federal Credit Union and manufacturing and agricultural programs.
“I don't want to be forced into the position where I have to make a decision on cutting educational services,” Long said. “Extra money to us would not be looking at starting anything new … it would be to maintain the services that I feel like we give to our students that we currently have. I don't want to lose them.”
Northwest parents use the motto, “One school, one town, one family.” The district’s fight for funding has become their fight, too.
They’ve created a Facebook page, called and emailed lawmakers and wear “Save Northwest” shirts.
Alexandra Kopiak, a mother of two, has helped lead the efforts to bring more attention to the struggles faced by rural schools. She and other parents attended a rally in Harrisburg last month, advocating for Northwest Area.
“I would love to see my daughters getting the same opportunities that kids all across the state get, whether it be educational field trips, updated materials, having after school programs … or a functional library,” she said. “I hope that by getting people together and staying united that we can gain funding for rural school districts across the state.”
