At North Philly school, Wolf makes a pitch for more education funding

William H. Hunter Elementary School students were in the spotlight Friday as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Mayor Michael Nutter visited the school in North Philadelphia.The children entertained the dignitaries with a spirited rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

In between meeting and greeting the smiling kids, Wolf stressed the urgency of having his budget passed.

“The time is now,” he said. “If we don’t act now, it’s going be too late. We’ve got to act now, we can’t lose another child. This is a responsibility for all of Pennsylvania.”

This is Wolf’s fourth visit to a Philadelphia school as he promotes his budget plan, which calls for a tax on natural gas production to help increase education funding. His plan calls for $159 million in new basic-education funding for Philadelphia, as well as millions more to districts across the state.

Wolf, a Democrat, said he’s put strings on the new education funding to make sure it goes directly to the classrooms.

But the budget proposal will be a tough sell in the Republican-controlled Legislature where the deadline for adopting a state budget is June 30.