By Thomas Fitzgerald – Yet in a new poll to be released Thursday, 64 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters said they would support a tax increase to expand publicly funded preschool education, responding to a hypothetical hike of .01 percentage points in the personal income tax, which would cost an average taxpayer about $50.

It’s safe to say that pollsters don’t often find a super-majority of voters willing to pay more in taxes.

Yet in a new poll to be released Thursday, 64 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters said they would support a tax increase to expand publicly funded preschool education, responding to a hypothetical hike of .01 percentage points in the personal income tax, which would cost an average taxpayer about $50.

The poll was paid for by the Pre-K for PA campaign, a coalition of state nonprofits advocating for early childhood education, and it was conducted by Harper Polling, a Republican firm based in Harrisburg.

“There is a strong consensus among Pennsylvania voters who think that early childhood education is important,” said Brock McCreary, president of Harper Polling.

Ninety-four percent of respondents said pre-K helped people live a healthy and productive life. By 75 percent to 18 percent, voters said they supported increased public funding for preschool for children aged 3 and 4. Every demographic group tested backed more spending, though Republicans (57 percent) and conservatives (61 percent) were slightly less supportive…

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