Sen. Lisa Baker, a Republican who represents six counties in the state's northeast corner, said officials in one Sullivan County district told her that it might have to close if the current level of cuts went through.
Other legislators said school districts might be forced to lay off hundreds of teachers, eliminate successful programs, and raise property taxes.
The unease that members of both parties have voiced to Corbett's proposed funding reductions is the strongest sign that a budget battle might loom between the new Republican governor and the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Education cuts include nearly 10 percent to schools and 50 percent to state-supported universities.
"It would be difficult to get the votes in the House and Senate. I told the governor that," House Speaker Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) said in an interview. "A 50 percent cut to higher education is not 'belt-tightening.' Let's see what else we can squeeze elsewhere in the budget."
Corbett unveiled his $27.3 billion state budget in early March, recommending eliminating $1 billion from the total basic education funding - including $250 million in grants that paid for programs such as full-day kindergarten - to help repair a $4 billion deficit without raising taxes.
The total K-12 education funding proposal is $5.2 billion, an amount that would be a rollback to 2008-09 school funding levels.
Tomalis, during six hours of testimony before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, blamed part of the fiscal woes on the end of federal stimulus money and higher teacher and staff costs.
He acknowledged that less-affluent districts, which rely more heavily on state funding, would feel a drop in subsidies more deeply and that larger class sizes might be one result of the cutbacks.
But he said the budget reflected the Corbett administration's commitment to the "core mission" of public education.
