Policy options can help fund schools in Pa.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission recently took the unprecedented step of refusing to approve the $2.4 billion budget for the next fiscal year. The SRC labeled the current amount of available revenue as "catastrophic" for conditions in our classrooms.

Pennsylvania has a projected budget deficit of more than $1.5 billion, which might seem to make prospects for additional funding for Philadelphia's schools bleak. However, it doesn't have to be this way. There are many commonsense policy choices available to increase the amount of state funding available for public education in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's public schools have been chronically underfunded, but the situation has now reached a crisis point. That's because Gov. Corbett and state lawmakers never restored the $1 billion from one-time federal stimulus funding in his first budget or in subsequent years. That cut translated to more than $300 million in lost revenue for the School District of Philadelphia. As a result, class sizes have exploded and essential school employees, such as nurses and guidance counselors, have been laid off.

Philadelphia is not the only place in Pennsylvania dealing with this issue. More than 20,000 school employees have been laid off statewide due to funding cuts. As a result, there are fewer teachers in our classrooms and test scores have taken a tumble. More than 75 percent of local school districts have been forced to raise property taxes to deal with budget shortfalls.

There has been a lot of misery for public education in Pennsylvania over the past few years, but there are opportunities to raise revenue without increasing broad-based taxes. Below are just some of the options that should be considered as lawmakers put together a state budget by the constitutional deadline of June 30.

Shale tax for schools. Currently, companies mining in the Marcellus Shale region are not paying their fair share. I have introduced Senate Bill 1333, which would place a 5 percent tax on the extraction of shale gas, with the majority of the funding going to public education. It would raise $700 million for next year's budget. Although the governor has said he does not support this proposal, there is growing bipartisan support for a shale tax to fund education.

Cigarette tax. State Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Phila.) has introduced Senate Bill 944, which would provide state authorization for Philadelphia to levy a $2-a-pack tax on cigarettes, with the money going to the School District. This levy would raise an estimated $83 million in the first year for public schools in Philadelphia.

Expand Medicaid. Pennsylvania has the option of participating in the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, but the state is seeking to develop an alternative plan using private insurance. That plan could be amended to allow Medicaid expansion immediately and generate more than $400 million in savings for the next fiscal year. This policy option has the added benefits of providing affordable health care to 500,000 low-income Pennsylvanians and creating 35,000 jobs in the health-care sector.

Modernize wine and spirits. Senate Democrats have advocated for Senate Bill 800, which would modernize, not privatize, Pennsylvania liquor stores to generate $125 million in new revenue. Privatization would mean a proliferation of liquor stores in our communities, even struggling neighborhoods that don't want or need easy access to alcohol. Our alternative plan would make changes to the existing system to make it more customer-friendly, add flexibility in pricing, and change personnel policies to increase revenue. We also want to take advantage of Pennsylvania's status as one of the largest wholesale purchasers of alcohol in the world to generate more profits for the system.

Freeze business tax cuts. Pennsylvania has provided big businesses with more than $1.2 billion in tax cuts over the past three years. One example is the capital stock and franchise tax, which is a levy mostly paid by large corporations with significant operations inside the commonwealth. We should freeze corporate taxes at current levels and save $75 million annually.

There has been a lot of bellyaching about the tough choices facing lawmakers in the upcoming state budget process. We have a hard job, but it's not nearly as difficult as the job of a teacher struggling to get by in an underfunded classroom. Clearly, there are many policy options available for fully funding public education in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.