On Pennsylvania’s public education front, the question now is whether local Pennsylvania State Education Association bargaining units will heed the message of James P. Testerman.

Testerman, PSEA president, on Wednesday encouraged union members to “seriously consider” Gov. Tom Corbett’s request that teachers agree to a one-year pay freeze to cushion subsidy cuts tied to the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal.

A wage freeze would help eliminate or reduce local-level property tax increases needed by some districts to counter the negative effects of the subsidy reduction.

Taxpayers in all public school districts should pay close attention to upcoming local discussions on the pay freeze issue.

The PSEA chief’s message is sensible, considering the generous salary hikes teachers have been receiving despite economic conditions and the inability of districts to convince teachers to contribute more toward their health care benefits.

If teachers accept the Corbett request, they will merit appreciation for sharing some of the pain other workers have been experiencing — workers whose real estate taxes help fund teachers’ generous pay and benefits packages.

In the aftermath of Corbett’s budget presentation earlier this month, Testerman dodged the issue of teacher concessions.

While he said the PSEA wanted to “do our part to help the commonwealth move forward,” he focused that help on continuing to support research-backed programs and voice concerns “about any education initiatives not proven to be effective.”

He did not immediately call for teachers to consider a one-year pay freeze, in response to the governor’s message regarding the state’s dire financial circumstances.

On Wednesday, Testerman demonstrated leadership and courage in asking the local PSEA bargaining units to consider something that they haven’t been asked to do since the 1970 passage of the state’s public employees bargaining act.

While some teachers might regard a pay freeze now as a bad precedent, they also should acknowledge that these are extraordinary fiscal times.

Meanwhile, saving money on teacher salaries in the coming year could, at least in some districts, prevent or reduce teacher layoffs and program cuts.

Most teacher bargaining units consider layoffs abhorrent.

PSEA members “have been willing to be good public partners and tackle tough issues before, and we’re willing to do it again,” Testerman said. “We hope to prevent a $1 billion cut in state education funding, but we also realize that tough economic times have hit many of our public school districts.”

Later in his statement, Testerman said he had sent a letter to presidents of all PSEA union locals that “encouraged them to enter into discussions with their school boards about a pay freeze or other cost-saving measures to maintain class sizes and academic programs.”

The reception that the Testerman letter will receive at school districts in Butler County and throughout the rest of the state now is the big unknown, but reactions will be emerging over the next month, both during school board meetings and outside of those venues.

Corbett, taxpayers and everyone else interested in quality education for Keystone State students will be watching to see what influence the PSEA president has among the 191,000 members of his union.