How to Restore State Funding for Education, Create Good Jobs, Stop Unfair Property Tax Increases

By Linda Small

PA can have great schools, create good jobs and fix the property tax system.

PA politicians cut education funding by $1 billion dollars, and we're feeling the effects. We're now up to 27,000 education jobs lost across Pennsylvania and local school boards have had to increase taxes and cut programs to try to make up for the lost funding. State support for our higher education system was slashed by 21%, causing tuition to rise while programs and professors were cut. We pay more for prisons than we do for colleges today. Here's how we invest in education. According to the Penn Budget and Policy Center, in 2003 corporate tax breaks totaled $850 million dollars, the breaks now total over $3 billion dollars. Ending the breaks and having corporations pay a fair share of taxes nets enough revenue to fully restore education funding for K-12 and higher education. Enacting a Marcellus Shale gas severance tax of at least 5% as the drillers already pay in states like Texas and West Virginia will help funding as well.

End unfair local property tax increases and school program cuts.

Pennsylvania relies more on property taxes to fund education than most states; state funding for education is down to 32% of the total cost. Bringing the state share of funding to 50% will allow local school districts to stop increasing property taxes and cutting programs. Recently PA scrapped a fair education funding formula adopted in 2008; the education funding cuts hit struggling school districts and growing areas like York County harder than they hit wealthy school districts. It's time to fight for a fair education funding formula so that property taxes can be cut while still properly funding schools.

Unleash the power of PA workers to create a strong economy with good jobs.

PA ranked 48th in job creation last year, and wages have fallen since 2010. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 will help workers and the economy. Improving the transportation bill to repair our crumbling roads and bridges at a faster pace will create 30,000 jobs for every $1 billion invested. Restoring the $1 billion education funding cut will bring back the 20,000 education jobs that have been lost across the state. We must stop legislative attacks on unions. In states with strong unions, wages are higher for both union and non-union workers.

Let small businesses compete and create jobs.

In January of this year, a $30 million state grant to Comcast to build a skyscraper in Philadelphia was announced. What small business can compete with that? Corporations use tax loopholes and deals to avoid paying state taxes, leaving small businesses and their customers to make up for the lost revenue by paying a higher share of taxes. We must fight for a fair tax system which will level the playing field for small businesses and fight against corporate giveaways that make it impossible for small businesses to compete.