For years, Pennsylvania legislators have been considering bills to allow voters to decide on local school budgets, but each time the effort has been beaten back.

As a possible side deal to end the four-and-a-half-month budget impasse between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the heavily controlled Republican General Assembly, Wolf has raised the possibility of going down this road again in exchange for a massive infusion of funding for education.It didn't take long for superintendents across the commonwealth and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association to criticize the idea and recommend its being killed before it gets traction.State education advocacy groups are raising concerns about the possibility of this so-called "back-end referendum" requiring school districts to seek voter approval for any tax increase.One of the first to speak out was Bethlehem Schools Superintendent Joseph Roy, who called it a "prescription for disaster."The Campaign for Fair Education Funding sent a letter to Gov. Wolf and legislators earlier this week urging them to drop any ideas for a back-end referendum in concert with a budget deal."It is ill-advised for policymakers to deny public education a mechanism to support its mission while holding it accountable for outcomes," the letter says. "We cannot fix Pennsylvania's broken school funding system without the ability to raise local revenue when necessary."Other policymakers disagree and believe taxpayers are more than capable of making tough decisions on raising taxes when necessary.We agree and see it as an inclusive way to give the voters a say in what is arguably the highest local property tax they pay.There has been a mechanism in place for a while where if a proposed tax increase is expected to rise beyond a certain threshold, the local district needs approval. The state places a cap on school real estate tax increases, but allows state-approved exemptions for specific costs.The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials says that fewer than 20 percent of school districts apply for exemptions and fewer than 30 percent of the approved exemptions are ultimately used annually.School officials contend that voters will automatically turn down any tax-increase proposal.This is sheer nonsense, as proven by results in many states which allow voters to determine the outcome of school budgets.In New York state, where I lived for 16 years, voters approved budgets (including tax increases) more than 90 percent of the time.Another contiguous state, New Jersey, also permits voter approval or rejection of annual school budgets. Critics contend, however, that New York and New Jersey spend far more per pupil than Pennsylvania does.Getting voter approval requires school officials and the boards of education to make solid cases for tax increases. For voters to have a say in this important matter is the very cornerstone of democracy.We believe that when school officials have to answer directly to the public for increased tax funding they will have to make an airtight case for the necessity of a tax increase.The way the system works now in some districts is that annual tax increases are foregone conclusions, and the public has little to no recourse.This time around, we believe it is appropriate to get more voter involvement in the school budgetary process.That said, we realize that voter turnout on school budgets in other states has been historically low, but if a concerted effort is made by interested citizens, voter turnout can be on a par with, or even higher than, other elections.Bruce Frassinelli |

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