Philadelphia's Senate Delegation Wants A $300 Million Dollar Increase For School Spending
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Days before Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett presents his budget address, Philadelphia's Senate delegation is proposing a plan to boost funding for schools.
The Governor on Tuesday reportedly plans to propose an increase of hundreds of millions of dollars in the education budget.
State Senator Vincent Hughes says the Philadelphia delegation is proposing spending $300 million more on schools, without a tax increase. He says that can be done by pausing corporate tax cuts and expanding Medicaid.
"We are in a situation where if we begin this process now, and prioritize it now, we can begin to restore the cuts in funding that Philadelphia and other low-income school districts across the state have had," Hughes says.
Philadelphia would get $90 million more.
The ideas were floated last year. But Hughes says now, in an election year where education funding is a priority, the governor and the Republican controlled legislature may be more willing.