He did call for the creation of new state report cards for school districts and for reinventing teacher job evaluations.
The proposed block-grant cut elicited the most reaction.
If the money is not reinstated, the Philadelphia School District - already facing a $61 million dollar deficit this school year - would lose $21 million more, and area suburban districts an additional $10.4 million.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, was not pleased. The budget "shortchanges our students again," he said.
School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro A. Ramos, a Corbett appointee, said the district "appreciates the governor's effort to spare basic education from the difficult cuts proposed" to balance the budget.
Last year's budget chopped $860 million in aid to school districts, including federal stimulus money that was no longer available.
Delaware County's Chester Upland School District would lose almost $1 million if the block grant is eliminated. The district ran out of money earlier this year and needs millions more in state funds to stay open.
A cut "would mean diminishing an already impoverished educational program," said acting Assistant Superintendent Thomas Persing. "We need more funding, not less."
Bucks County's Bristol Township School District was looking at a $12.5 million gap between projected revenues and expenditures before Corbett's proposal, even with a proposed 2.1 percent tax increase imposed on district residents. It would lose $467,000 in state block-grant funding if Corbett gets his way.
"We already have a steep hill to climb," said Superintendent Samuel Lee. Losing more state funding, he said, would be "disappointing."
In addition to chopping the block-grant program, money in the budget for Head Start and another prekindergarten program would be cut about 5 percent.
Funding for another early intervention program would increase about $8 million.
