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PENNSYLVANIA BUDGET SHOWDOWN: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has been crisscrossing the state since early this year, visiting nearly four dozen schools on his “Schools that Teach” tour to talk about his budget proposal and reinvesting in public education. Wolf, a Democrat who campaigned on the promise of undoing what he said was $1 billion in cuts by former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, wants to increase school funding by $2 billion over the next four years by instituting a severance tax on oil and natural gas. But the budget, due to be set by June 30, isn’t final. Wolf is at an impasse with Republican lawmakers: He says [http://bit.ly/1IvZ6io] Republicans won’t come to the table and their budget doesn’t come close to restoring education cuts, it isn’t balanced and it would lead to a $3 billion deficit. But Republicans have said Wolf’s tax increases are a deal-breaker.

— “You can’t delude yourself into thinking that we can get away with no investment or minimal investment,” Wolf told Morning Education. Wolf said the cuts have “hollowed out our schools, made our economy worse and given us a future that’s not all that bright.” Turnout on the “Schools that Teach” tour has been good, he said, and he’s not backing down anytime soon. “Everybody is there because they want me to stand up and say let’s get this right ... people are ready for a fight,” he said. A map of Wolf’s visits on the tour: http://bit.ly/1DzVf76.

— School districts won’t feel a budget pinch for a while. The state pays school subsides this month and revenue from local property taxes isn’t affected by the budget stalemate. But if the impasse drags on for several more months, some districts might have to borrow money and some might threaten to close their doors. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke it down earlier this summer: http://bit.ly/1LSFvvp.

— Meanwhile, in neighboring New Jersey, The Education Law Center wants Education Commissioner David Hespe to raise concerns about the state’s weighted student funding formula in a three-year review that he’ll send to state lawmakers in September. Hespe’s review is limited, ELC notes — he can’t recommend substantive changes to the formula or the way in which state aid is distributed to districts. But the group says the funding formula “has been underfunded for years” and therefore, hasn’t been implemented properly. “This failure limits the extent to which the formula's cost and aid components can be reviewed and adjusted,” the group says. “In addition, the past few years have seen multiple unfunded mandates imposed on school districts, including new teacher evaluations and PARCC tests.” The law center’s letter to Hespe: http://bit.ly/1hwgLjz.