A $27.7-billion budget plan written by Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania state House and Senate would send more money to public schools than a plan approved previously by the Senate.
 
The plan was delivered to Governor Tom Corbett's staff Tuesday and was not released publicly.
 
Under the plan written by top GOP lawmakers, public schools would get an extra $50-million, or $100-million total, for grants that help districts pay for full-day kindergarten. Another $50-million would be set aside for "distressed" public schools. None of that money was in Corbett’s $27.1-billion hold-the-line budget proposed in February.
 
Overall spending would drop slightly from the plan the Senate approved last month because of recalculations of welfare caseloads and the amount owed for school employees' Social Security taxes. Aid for higher education would remain the same as in the Senate-passed plan, which undid deep cuts proposed by Corbett.
 
The fiscal year begins July 1.