Projections by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office foresee the burden of school districts’ property taxes growing by 4% to 4.8% from 2025 to 2026, according to reporting by The Center Square.

While we hope these forecasts are the wake-up call our state government needs to prioritize reforms to how public schools in Pennsylvania are funded, we are unfortunately pessimistic.

After all, court rulings that the property-tax structure Pennsylvania has long used is unconstitutional in its disparity have not prompted, in our view, the serious conversation our state’s families and taxpayers deserve.

As we have editorialized before, consolidation of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts and more cost-sharing between school districts must be part of the solution. State spending cuts in other areas — to re-allocate resources to schools — must also be part of the solution.

Of course, part of the solution rests with the leaders of the school districts — no matter how many there are — who need to find ways of cutting costs

As we have also editorialized before, shifting the burden from property owners to working Pennsylvanians through increases in the state’s income taxes should not be part of the solution.

Unfortunately, here too we have reason for pessimism. All too often when Pennsylvania’s property taxes are discussed and debated, some of our neighbors are resolutely committed to the idea that if you work for a living, more and more of your hard-earned money needs to be withheld by the government.

We believe otherwise. We hope our lawmakers will recognize the wisdom of low tax burdens on work an employment. And we hope — between the court rulings and the forecast — that they will recognize the need for this debate is overdue.