The 2011-12 Pennsylvania budget will not impose as big of a hit on public school districts as Gov. Tom Corbett requested in his budget proposal unveiled in March.

Still, the reduction in subsidies for the new fiscal year that begins today both for the state and school districts will require more belt-tightening by the 500 public school systems. And, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It might finally force districts, administrators and teachers unions to face the fact that their “money trees” no longer have the plush growth that have allowed the districts to dole out sweetheart contracts and allow program expenses to continue to grow beyond the districts’ ability to pay for them without increasing taxes.

At the same time, some districts contemplating construction and renovation might have to rethink or scale back such projects.

Even with efforts on those fronts, the districts’ fiscal futures appear bleak, thanks in big part to the state Legislature’s 2001 pension grab — with the cooperation of former Gov. Tom Ridge — that imposed new, large future local liabilities for educators’ retirement years.

And, while school districts are faring a bit better under the signed-into-law budget document than what Corbett initially sought, it’s appropriate to remind taxpayers that their districts would be facing better fiscal scenarios if teachers unions had approved Corbett’s request for a one-year pay freeze.

In Butler County, not one teachers union agreed to forgo a pay hike for 2011-12, trashing the local unions’ and Pennsylvania State Education Association’s statements that they’re most concerned about the quality of education and students.

This year made clear that at least the PSEA and local union leaders, if not large numbers of their rank-and-file membership, are most concerned about their pay — and not about what programs might have to be cut and how those cuts might adversely affect children.

In many if not most cases, the opinions of individual teachers regarding the pay-freeze issue could not be gauged because union leaders refused to allow a vote.

While some administrative staffs in Butler County school districts commendably agreed to a one-year pay freeze, some, including Butler’s, fell in line with the teachers unions’ “gimme” attitude and opted against the freeze.

In Butler’s case, administrators and teachers agreed to a small increase in their health care contributions that still keeps their payments far below what most other Butler area workers are paying.

Lower subsidies, coming pension obligations, general increases in operating costs, overly generous fringe benefits and teachers’ refusal to sacrifice — all contribute to the need for belt-tightening, not only in the 12 months ahead but, presumably, in future years as well.

The higher-than-expected subsidies that school districts will receive are a result of an agreement to allocate at least $200 million from a current state revenue surplus of more than $650 million.

Commendably, Republicans in the Legislature and Corbett resisted dumping all of the $650 million in the laps of the public schools, where it would have been an incentive for teachers unions to continue demanding raises well in excess of inflation.

It is to be hoped that today’s money realities will discourage Butler and other area school districts from early bird sweetheart contract deals that ignore hard bargaining on the part of taxpayers’ interests.

Governments at all levels are in need of belt tightening. Finally, after too many years of excessive state generosity toward the school districts — generosity that, in many instances, translated mostly into higher salaries rather than actual educational improvements and better student achievement — the message has been delivered that things must change.

Overall, the state budget isn’t great — Pennsylvania would like to do more — but it acknowledges today’s fiscal realities.

That’s what every budget should do, but for too many years didn’t.