WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A growing number of Pennsylvania citizens are signing petitions in support of pending legislation that would eliminate the unfair and burdensome property tax, according to TimesLeader.com.

They say the state could make up for the lost revenue by increasing the earned income tax and sales tax.

Of course this plan is being attacked by the state’s largest teachers union, as well as other public education apologists, because it might result in less revenue for schools, the news report says.

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They say Pennsylvania public schools have already suffered enough due to state budget cuts, and elimination of the property tax would do “irreparable harm” to district budgets and students.

There’s no question that schools need adequate funding, and there’s no question their budgets have been cut quite a bit in recent years.

There’s also little doubt that public school districts are notoriously wasteful with tax money, and throw away a lot of dollars on poorly designed compensation and benefit packages for teachers and other employees.

But putting that aside, the question is who should be responsible for fully funding public schools? As the news story acknowledges, Pennsylvania relies more on local property taxes for school funding than most states.

It seems to us that many citizens – not just property owners – benefit from the presence of public schools. Many people who don’t own property send their children to public schools. Shouldn’t every citizen share equally in the burden of funding schools, as well as other government entities that benefit the general public?

Most homeowners are far from rich, as evidenced by the wave of foreclosures in recent years. Many average people who dare to live the American dream and purchase their own home end up with backbreaking property tax bills they can’t afford.

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Many elderly homeowners on fixed incomes are particularly crippled by property taxes.

What would be wrong with every state having a general “public service” tax that applies to every adult citizen? The tax would be spread over millions of people, so the per-person levy would not have to be terribly large. It could be a sum, perhaps $200 per year, that even temporarily unemployed people – or the increasing number of folks who refuse to work these days – could save over the course of the year.

Such a tax would guarantee that everyone helps pay for the services that all citizens benefits from, like schools, highways and street lights. The revenue it brought in, combined with adjusted sales and earned income taxes, might just provide enough revenue to meet school needs.

In any case, the tax burden should be spread around more equally, regardless of how the state decides to do it.

There’s no reason to leave this burden completely on the backs of property owners. Schools must be adequately funded, but the taxes that provide the funding should be the shared responsibility of everyone.