Dive Brief:

• After close to a year of research, Pennsylvania's Basic Education Funding Commission is expected to report recommendations today to address a decades-old problem of per-student funding disparity in the state's schools. 
• The state's most populated cities have often fared worse. Philadelphia, which comes in as 58th poorest, is ranked 145th in per-student funds.
• Data reviewed by the Associated Press shows that spending disparities can be as great as 50% for students in very similar economic districts.

Dive Insight:

There is no quick-fix here. Where enrollment and economic conditions are similar, funding generally is also close. The state's last school funding formula was developed around 1990. Since then, politics have come into play when directing funds. The panel's recommendations must accomplish a solution for per-student spending that is fair and equal to all districts. 

"Basically we're dealing with this playing field now that is irrational, with a largely politicized allocation of resources ... with no basis in reality," Jim Buckheit, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, told the Associated Press.