Candidate Tom Wolf Promises Shale Fracking Tax Revenue For Pa. Schools
By Mike Dougherty
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- Tom Wolf, the Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, today visited the STEM Academy in Chester, to speak with students and teachers about the state of education in cash-strapped school districts.
Students asked Wolf how he would help the struggling Chester-Upland School District if he's elected governor. He told them a five-percent severance tax on Marcellus Shale would go a long way.
"Five percent (tax) would raise a billion dollars," Wolf said. "Some of that would go back to the localities, some of that would go to the Department of Environmental Protection, some of that would be used to build a bridge to a sustainable energy future. But hundreds of millions of dollars of that new money would go to support public education."
Shamyra Woods-Elliot, a senior with a 4.0 GPA, hopes to attend Stanford University next fall.
"I feel like he really cares about the school district," she said. "And if he does become governor, I hope that he follows through with his answer."
Wolf says elected officials have an obligation to provide all the necessary resources for students like Shamyra to develop academically.
Governor Tom Corbett today attended the funeral for slain Pennsylvania state police corporal Bryon Dickson, in Scranton.
