It’s notable that PCCY found the achievement gap to be worse in districts that had tighter budgets. Where districts were more affluent and in communities where the cost of entry is a much more expensive house, the racial achievement data looked better.
Maria Panaritis
That is because Pennsylvania largely underwrites schools through a controversial approach that heavily relies on local property taxes. This has been destructive to lower-income and middle-income districts that have either a dearth of wealthy landowners or commercial tax base. State lawmakers have drastically reduced state funding for public schools over the last generation.