139. Ohio's system for funding public schools is broken
Jack and Gonzo are joined by Bailey Culp of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and Hannah Halbert of Policy Matters Ohio. We disuss why rural districts struggle and what it would take to fix the state’s funding system, which was declared unconstitutional in the 1991 DeRolf decision.
Bailey and Hannah explain that traditional public schools rely heavily on local property taxes plus state funds and that the state’s share of funding education has fallen from about 47% to roughly 32.2%. The decrease in state funding has resulted in school districts pushing for more local levies and competing for funds with other entities like libraries.
Under the Fair School Funding Plan, passed in 2021, the legislature calculates the cost of education for the school districts and each district’s funding capacity, but the Plan has not been fully phased in. State lawmakers have calculated the cost of education based on costs that existed in 2022 and have calculated local funding capacity to rise with property valuations, which hasn’t always happened. In addition, lawmakers have also failed to account for the costs of certain programs, such as children with special needs and English learners. The result is that many districts, mostly rural, find themselves with large funding gaps.
The education voucher program has expanded and now exceeds $1 billion annually. Education vouchers mean less money for public education. What about the lottery/sports gaming revenue? That money supplants rather than supplements state funding.
The next big issue for public education is what happens if the Ohio Supreme Court decides, in a case now before it, that school vouchers are constitutional.
Listen to the conversation.
