It's budget time for school districts across the state, and the news for many taxpayers isn't good. For example, Tuesday's and Wednesday's Butler Eagle front pages reported on tax increases planned in the Seneca Valley, Slippery Rock and Mars districts. At a meeting Wednesday evening, the South Butler School Board announced plans for a tax hike also.

With the final year of its contract with teachers coming up, Slippery Rock already is weighing how that will impact district finances beyond the 2004-05 fiscal year. South Butler has a much different scenario. Its teachers have been working under provisions of a contract that expired on June 30, 2003. Wages and insurance benefits are reported to be the main sticking points to achieving a contract settlement.

Across the state, other districts are trying to plug realistic spending projections into their budgets before they know the actual price tag that this year's bargaining with their teachers unions will bring about.

Meanwhile, the Rendell administration continues to push for slot machines and using profits from that gambling for education, enabling reductions in school property taxes.

On another front, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, has introduced House Bill 1988, which, if passed and signed into law, would require any and all future local tax increases, excluding increases for public health or safety issues, to be approved by a voter referendum.

In a letter to the editor published in Thursday's Butler Eagle, the Butler County legislator said, "Just like clockwork, 'educratic parasites' such as the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) are pulling out all the stops to ensure this legislation never sees the light of day on the arrogant grounds that the 'ignorant masses' will always say no to even the most minuscule tax increase."

School officials are rightfully concerned that their districts could suffer serious hardships if their voters consistently were to reject tax increases under a referendum system. However, Metcalfe is correct that some school systems might not be working hard enough to control costs in all budget categories and that school directors might need a referendum incentive to do that.

With employee salaries and benefits consuming between 60 percent and 70 percent of school budgets, many school boards have become frustrated about where to cut within the remaining 30 percent to 40 percent. William Pettigrew, Mars superintendent, alluded to that Tuesday evening, saying that if the state opts for referendums on school tax increases, districts would be forced to systematically shut down programs. He said the first item to be cut would be activities like sports, music and other extracurricular activities. He said the next round of cuts would be advanced-placement courses that academically challenge the district's brightest students.

Staff and other essential items eventually could be cut, he added.

Unfortunately, budget discussions have steered clear of focusing on teacher salaries, which consistently have been increasing at levels above inflation. Thirty years ago, teachers were underpaid, but the state's collective-bargaining law has allowed them to bring their pay significantly above many other occupations.

With that having been achieved, teacher bargaining units should enter negotiations with more reasonable expectations than many have displayed in recent years.

If that doesn't happen, the pressure on taxpayers is going to increase support for proposals like Metcalfe's and, right or wrong, tax-increase rejections will erode some of the assets teachers - and students and parents - routinely expect.

Over an extended period of time, an anti-tax-increase stance by a district's taxpayers could result in serious damage to a school system. Metcalfe argues against that, pointing out that more than 40 other states allow voters to OK or reject tax hikes, and that voters in those states seriously do assess needs before making their decision.

He said that is why, despite having the option to say no, about 60 percent of the time voters approve the increases proposed.

Metcalfe's proposal isn't law, however. And, Gov. Ed Rendell's push for gambling profits to help fund education remains controversial.

For school budgets, the clock continues to tick, and tax projections for 2004-05 are disheartening in many locales, in Butler County and elsewhere.

It's time for all aspects of education in Pennsylvania to face the financial realities and consider the possible ramifications if they don't. And, with more of a desire than they have shown in most districts, teachers must involve themselves in that serious exercise.

- J.R.K.