Philadelphia School Budget Austerity May Not Trigger Further Harrisburg Largesse
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Thursday night's passage of a so-called "doomsday" budget for Philadelphia schools (see related story) isn't likely to shake loose more money from the Republican-controlled state legislature in Harrisburg.
Pennsylvania House Republicans this week rolled out their state budget proposal, which calls for $10 million more in basic education subsidies than what Governor Corbett has proposed, to be shared by schools statewide.
A spokesman for the House majority leader says the School Reform Commission's vote is unlikely to change that.
Likewise in the State Senate, a spokesman for the majority leader says neither the extra $120 million the SRC wants from the state, nor a significant portion of it, is in the cards.
"Whether the amount is $120 million, or $60 million, or something else, right now the fiscal pressures on the state are such that it is entirely unclear where that kind of funding would come from," said Erik Arneson.
While Arneson applauds the SRC for "honest budgeting," he says it won't trigger a bailout from the state treasury.
