The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.

When the writers of the Pennsylvania Constitution penned those words, we don't believe they were envisioning the differences today's school districts represent.

We don't believe they could have predicted that the quality of schools by the three Ls of location would become the sales pitch of Realtors or the determination of home-sale value.

Our forefathers, trusting in the value of education in a democracy, could not have foreseen that some schools would cringe over limiting hours availability to the school pool while others would be forced to decide between art class and laying off another teacher.

In advocating for the state to maintain and support schools "to serve the needs of the Commonwealth," they most likely did not expect children in some neighborhoods would go to "public" schools with laptops for all, while in other neighborhoods, there would not be enough books for the classroom.

And in funding those schools, our forefathers certainly did not imagine the inequities a local property tax would create, making the tax burden greatest for those financially least able to bear it.

A public education to serve the needs of all children of the Commonwealth is contradicted by terms like "adequacy gap" and "leveling the playing field."

The inequities in funding Pennsylvania schools were not planned, but as they have developed over time, those in power have done nothing to stop the gaps from widening.

Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal by itself doesn't make the disparity worse, but it brings home the results of inequitable funding with dramatic effect.

In a wealthy district where state support is barely needed because the property tax generates more than adequate funding for public schools, such as in Lower Merion Township, Corbett's budget plan is a paper cut.

In places like Pottstown where a tough local taxload produces less than what is needed to educate its students, the state cuts amount to a bloodbath.

Pottstown School Board member Michele Pargeon has noted accurately that many people do not understand the critical effect of funding disparity. "They think you're just asking for more money to throw at education," she said.

But what fair funding advocates are really asking for is a system that closes the gap. After all, for kids in Pottstown, where more than half the students qualify for the free and reduced lunch due to poverty at home, "education is probably their only chance for a future that breaks the mold."

Corbett's budget plan didn't create this problem, but it drove home its potential to do damage, hitting hardest those who can least afford the blows.