Good to their word in Upper Darby

The Upper Darby School Board was good to its word.

Last week they rolled out a $189 million dollar budget that did something school board members are always talking about - but very rarely ever actually do.

That would be holding the line on taxes.

After several years of property tax hikes, Upper Darby this year decided to bite the bullet and not raise taxes.

Tuesday night the school board gave preliminary approval to the plan.

You can get all the details here.

It's not as if the district is flush with money. In fact, they are staring at a $6.5 million deficit.

But instead of simply reaching into home owners' wallets, the school board instead will tap into their fund balance, and keep their fingers crossed that an expected uptick in revenue holds up.

Officials made clear that this is a "one-time opportunity" to provide relief to local taxpayers.

We hear that. Aside from crime, property taxes without question generate the most complaints we hear from residents.

This is where the Legislature should step in and take action.

Unfortunately, they don't exactly see eye-to-eye with Gov. Tom Wolf when it comes to spending, in particular the Democratic governor's plan for a huge increase in education spending, and the hefty tax hike to pay for it.

We don't expect that is going to change anytime soon. The two sides are about to start up the budget negotiations again. As usual, they face a July 1 deadline to have a spending plan in place. And as usual, most people expect them to blow right by that deadline. Last year the standoff dragged on for nine months.

There is something the Legislature can do in the meantime.

They can make permanent the fair funding formula suggested by a Basic Education Funding Commission.

Today, on our op-ed page, we hear two voices in favor of just such a move.

Larry Feinberg is a longtime member of the Haverford School Board. He's also the founder and co-chairman of the Keystone State Education Coalition.

He knows his stuff. And he knows the state - one of only three in the nation that does not have a statewide funding formula - has been lax in this area for far too long.

Also joining in the calls for making the measure permanent is newly minted state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9.

It's time. Pennsylvania has operated in the dark ages in terms of education funding long enough.

Just ask the folks in William Penn and Interboro. They also are struggling with red ink there, but it's likely they instead will again be enacting tax hikes, job cuts, or both.

The residents of Upper Darby dodged a bullet. But that light at the end of the tunnel is actually a train.

It's up to the Legislature to derail this annual funding debacle.

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