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HAZLETON — As the Keystone state’s cheerleader-in-chief, Gov. Tom Wolf found himself with a tough crowd Friday.

The students were studying directions — as in north, south, east and west — and he asked their favorites.

“West,” one boy in the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School classroom said. “I want to go to California.”

“What’s wrong with Pennsylvania?” Wolf asked

“It snows a lot here.”

Perhaps sensing that this stop on his “Schools that Teach” tour might be backfiring, Wolf asked if there was anyone who liked Pennsylvania.

“I always have a good time here,” one boy said.

“I like it,” another chirped in. “It’s close to my family in New York.”

“Anyone else want to say something nice about Pennsylvania?” Wolf asked.

One girl up front shook her head no. Wolf turned to her and smiled.

“So you heard about what’s going on in Harrisburg,” he quipped.

“What’s going on” is a budget battle now in its eighth month, as Wolf pushes for new taxes and more money for public schools.

Begun June 30 when Wolf vetoed a bill from the Republican-controlled legislature, the impasse has lasted so long that Wolf proposed next year’s budget on Tuesday, even as no full budget exists for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

While the tour is meant, at least in part, to garner support for his push for more public school money, Wolf hadn’t even left the building before Pennsylvania GOP Deputy Communications Director Paul Engelkemier sent out a comment.

“Governor Tom Wolf is holding yet another taxpayer-funded political tour of the Commonwealth to push his fantasy budget that would leave Pennsylvanians worse off,” the statement said, going on to accuse Wolf of holding “our students hostage” by restricting the flow of state education money approved by the legislature.

Asked about the statement, Wolf countered that Pennsylvania is facing a $1.2 billion structural deficit, has had its credit downgraded five times in five years, and cannot afford to cut any more from the budget.

“That’s not a Democratic or Republican issue, that’s a fact,” Wolf said.

With an extensive entourage of media, security, local politicians and school staff, Wolf toured several classrooms in what once was Hazleton High School.

He split his time talking with students and teachers. One class gave him a card thanking him for his visit, and some hand-written missives, all in a paper bag decorated with a googly-eyed, heart-shaped purple face and accordion-fold paper arms and legs.

“He even looks like me,” Wolf joked.

Among the teachers, James Hearne praised the governor’s commitment to education, Megan Howey lauded the school and equipment but voiced concerns with the high-stakes state tests that stress her third-grade students, and David Havrilla urged Wolf to “just keep doing what you’re doing.”

State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, one of several lawmakers accompanying Wolf, couldn’t resist a little self-deprecating humor.

“You’re setting the bar pretty low!”

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, left, and state Rep. Mike Carroll share a laugh with Hazleton Elementary Middle School student Luis Gonell in English class during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_governorwolf01.jpg.optimal.jpgPennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, left, and state Rep. Mike Carroll share a laugh with Hazleton Elementary Middle School student Luis Gonell in English class during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf visits classrooms at Hazleton Elementary Middle School during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_governorwolf02.jpg.optimal.jpgPennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf visits classrooms at Hazleton Elementary Middle School during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, right, visits English teacher James Hearne’s classroom at Hazleton Elementary Middle School during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_governorwolf03.jpg.optimal.jpgPennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, right, visits English teacher James Hearne’s classroom at Hazleton Elementary Middle School during Wolf’s ‘Schools That Teach’ tour on Friday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader
Students a tough crowd for governor

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish