HARRISBURG -- Members of the Shenango Valley Initiative traveled here Wednesday to make a pitch for legislative action to bring equity to public school funding, but they encountered some difficulty in locating lawmakers to hear their message.

The Valley-based interfaith group is part of a statewide grassroots coalition that is pressing Gov. Mark Schweiker and the General Assembly to tackle the disparity in education spending between economically rich and poor school districts.

SVI along with other ecumenical organizations is urging lawmakers to earmark state funding to bridge the gap between what rich and poor school districts spend annually to educate students. That gap has widened due to the ability of rich schools to raise more revenues from local property taxes and a steady decline in the share of state aid for public education over the past two decades.

Specifically, SVI and allied groups like the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network and Erie-based Congregational Alliance want lawmakers to pass a law ensuring the state pays a substantial majority of public education costs in order to bridge the spending gap. They say this is necessary so school districts in economically distressed communities can provide quality education programs that enable students to master academic standards.

The coalition advocates shifting away from local property taxes and relying more on the state income tax to fund public education as a way to accomplish this goal. The coalition is following the work of a special House committee formed earlier this year to examine the twin issues of equity funding and school taxation.

"We assert that a relatively minor change in economic policy would result in an enormous change in educational opportunity for our children," said The Rev. Ralph Newell, SVI president, reading from a policy statement.

"It won't be easy, but it's obvious that the Commonwealth simultaneously must close the resource gap between wealthy and poor school districts, replace reliance on property taxes for school funding, and increase investment in education reforms that improve student performance."

The push to put school funding at the top of the legislative agenda comes at a time when state finances are tightening due to the economic downturn and aftershocks from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But SVI executive director Bob Clarke says it's important not to lose sight of the long-term importance of education.

"We cannot afford to lose another generation," he added. "We want a more equitable way of funding our schools." The effort involves a series of interfaith vigils and lobbying aimed at individual lawmakers. The focus Wednesday was on meeting with western Pennsylvania lawmakers. The group had expected at least 10 lawmakers to show up for an afternoon meeting, but only two Sens. Allyson Schwartz, D-Philadelphia, and Alan Kukovich, D-Westmoreland, dropped by.

The group's effort was complicated by the decision of House leaders to change long-standing schedules and make Wednesday a day when no roll call votes were taken. This made it less likely that lawmakers would be at the Capitol. SVI members expressed disappointment that none of the four Mercer County lawmakers came to the meeting or informed them earlier about the scheduling change.