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Shoppers are being targeted to help fund schools.

Legislation to temporarily raise the sales tax one percent for three years was filed last week in Tallahassee. The suggested increase comes as districts across the state consider shutting down schools and laying off teachers to meet budget demands. Florida Education Association Spokesman Mark Pudlow said raising the sales tax a penny would stop the budget bleeding that began two years ago.

“It would stop all the cuts that we’ve had over the last two years. It would restore them. It wouldn’t move us forward. That would be something that would still be a goal for us in the future but at least the children that are in school now wouldn’t have to suffer from loss of schools, bigger classrooms, loss of electives and those kinds of things,” said Pudlow.

Lawmakers will review the measure when they convene for regular session in March. The increase is expected to raise 3.5 billion dollars for education in it’s first year alone.