From the 2/14/07 Dispatch:

 

GOP leaders peeve Strickland

Designating school-funding bills: kind gesture or jab?

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Jim Siegel and Mark Niquette

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

To some, Republican legislative leaders are making a genuine offer to Gov. Ted Strickland, giving him a prime opportunity to address his major campaign promise of creating an improved school-funding system.

 

To others, including Strickland, Republicans are playing political games, trying to box in the governor during a bad budget cycle on an issue they don’t view as needing to be fixed.

 

House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, traditionally the spots held for the legislature’s top priorities, this year will go to Strickland’s not-yet-created schoolfunding plan, House Speaker Jon A. Husted and Senate President Bill M. Harris announced yesterday.  The bills essentially will be empty placeholders, giving Strickland until the end of 2008 to fill in the details.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/14/20070214-B1-01.html

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From the 2/14/07 ABJ:

 

Akron school board studies Ohio measure

Proposal would amend constitution to require state to fund education

By Stephanie Warsmith

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Akron school board members are divided on a proposed state constitutional amendment on school funding that could be placed on the November ballot.

 

The amendment would make education a fundamental right in Ohio, task the state school board with identifying and pricing the components of a "high-quality public education,'' and require the state legislature to decide how to pay for it.  The board heard a lengthy presentation on the funding initiative at its meeting Monday.

 

Supporters say the amendment would fix the state's unconstitutional method for funding schools, while critics say the issue fails to pinpoint a cost and could lead to a billion-dollar tax increase.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/16694859.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

 

From the 2/15/07 Dispatch:

 

GOP: School funding is fixed

Governor disagrees with House speaker’s assessment

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Gov. Ted Strickland and House Speaker Jon A. Husted disagreed yesterday on whether Ohio’s school-funding system is now constitutional, raising doubts about the prospects for a legislative solution to the governor’s top priority.

 

Although Husted said he would not prejudge how the Ohio Supreme Court might rule on any new school-funding challenge, he said he believes Republicans controlling the General Assembly over the past 10 years have provided the funding and reforms needed to make the system constitutional.

 

Four times between 1997 and 2003, the Supreme Court ruled the schoolfunding system unconstitutional.  While Strickland credited Republicans for improving the system, he said that few Ohioans would agree with Husted. 

 

The fundamental disagreement between Strickland and Husted on the question of constitutionality would appear to lessen the chances of a legislative solution to the problem of fund- ing schools. Strickland said that if Husted won’t cooperate "in efforts to solve what the courts have said is an unfair system … then I will know that I’ve exhausted my efforts to try to work with him."

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/15/20070215-D1-02.html

 

From the 2/18/07 Blade:

 

Questions surround school-funding plan

Proposal would give state board more control over education purse strings

By JIM PROVANCE

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

 

COLUMBUS - State taxpayers would be paying $1.3 billion more a year for schools today if Ohio lawmakers had supported funding requests from the state panel that would set future price tags for "high-quality" education under a proposed constitutional amendment.

 

The 19-member State Board of Education had requested $8.2 billion in general revenue fund dollars for K-12 schools for the current fiscal year excluding property tax rollback reimbursements and lottery proceeds, according to figures supplied by the Ohio Department of Education.

 

State lawmakers have decided to spend $6.8 billion on primary and secondary education.  The board's recommendations for the next two-year budget that must be passed by June 30 call for increases of about 7.5 percent in both 2008 and 2009.

 

MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/NEWS04/702180310/-1/RSS

 

From the 2/19/07 Middletown Journal:

 

 

Schools aren't betting on lottery funds

By Megan Gildow and Christopher Magan

Staff Writers

Monday, February 19, 2007

 

Local school officials aren't buying the odds that additional lottery proceeds allocated to education would help their funding situations. 

 

An advisory panel for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland recommended last month that the lottery scale back the 59 percent it returned in prizes to contribute more money to education.  Ohio Lottery officials say cutting the prizes to boost profits instead would decrease sales and its education contribution.

 

Lottery sales are up almost 16 percent over the last five years, but the amount earmarked to schools increased less than two percent.  Currently, only 6 percent of the money the state lottery earns goes to schools, said Ohio Department of Education spokesman J.C. Benton.

 

MORE: http://www.middletownjournal.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/02/18/mj021907lotto.html

 

From the 2/20/07 Dispatch:

 

Schools’ administrative costs high, governor says

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

 

Gov. Ted Strickland has attracted significant attention during last year’s campaign and since taking office Jan. 8 for his comments about fixing the state’s school-funding program.  But the governor also has talked frequently about reforms he’d like to see in public education, including possibly a longer school year.

 

Last week, Strickland threw another idea on the table: consolidating administrative costs and purchasing among districts to save money.  Strickland was asked at a conference of newspaper editors whether he favored consolidating the state’s 614 school districts.  He didn’t say there are too many districts but said he thinks Ohio spends too much on administration compared with other states.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/20/20070220-D7-07.html

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From same:

 

OEA to vote on contributing to school-funding campaign

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Joe Hallett

 

Roughly 1,300 delegates to the Ohio Education Association’s convention April 20 in Columbus will vote on a onetime $25 increase in membership dues to help pay for the campaign to pass a schoolfunding constitutional amendment proposed for the November statewide ballot.

 

The board of directors of the state’s largest teachers union has recommended the increase to raise about $2.5 million for the school-funding proposal, which is opposed by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican legislative leaders.

 

The Campaign for Ohio’s Future, a political umbrella for 12 organizations supporting the amendment, hopes to raise between $7 million and $10 million for the campaign, according to Gary Allen, president of the 130,000-member OEA.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/20/20070220-D7-09.html

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From the 2/20/07 PD:

 

School voucher program draws fire, praise

Students can leave low-performing schools

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Angela Townsend

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Halfway through its first school year, Ohio EdChoice is drawing praise and criticism for its effect on the state's education landscape.  The program provides tuition vouchers -- up to $4,250 a year for elementary students and up to $5,000 a year for high schoolers -- so that children in low-performing public schools can switch to private schools.

 

The state legislature set aside enough money for 14,000 vouchers, but only 2,914 students took advantage of them this year.  In the Cleveland area, 30 private schools, most of them religious, are honoring the nearly 200 EdChoice vouchers given to local students.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1171965589286780.xml&coll=2

---

From the 2/20/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

 

Capri: Development would solve school funding problem

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

 

YOUNGSTOWN — One of the Democratic Senate Caucus' top legislative priorities is to resolve Ohio's unconstitutional way of funding primary and secondary education, state Sen. Capri Cafaro says.

 

Money also must be found to properly fund higher education, Cafaro of Liberty told The Vindicator on Monday.  Some of the money for education will come from slowing down the amount the state pays for Medicaid, she said.  "It's one way to free up money to put toward education," said Cafaro, D-32nd.  "We're going to have to find other sources for funding. Just making cuts to other problems won't be enough."

 

Asked for specifics, Cafaro said she was "not comfortable as to what that's going to be. But we need to see what long-term solutions" exist.  "I'm not in favor of raising taxes," she said. "The best way to increase money is economic development."

 

The state needs to offer more business incentives for companies to open and relocate here, Cafaro said.  That would increase tax revenue, and could help the school funding issue, she said.

 

MORE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/306555745251459.php

 

The Buckeye Institute has released its comprehensive report on Ohio's education system.

 

The report makes three main points:

 

1) Ohio should remove resource constraints by providing facilities and operating funding to community schools on par with that of traditional schools.

 

2) Ohio should ease and eventually eliminate growth caps on the absolute number of community schools.

 

3) Ohio should ease and eventually eliminate the geographic restrictions on start-up community schools that are not sponsored by districts.

 

The (long) report can be found here:

http://www.achieve.org/files/World_Class_Edu_Ohio_FINAL.pdf

 

The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is a nonpartisan research and educational institute devoted to individual liberty, economic freedom, personal responsibility and limited government in Ohio.

 

From the 2/28/07 Massillon Independent:

 

Teachers urged to fight for school funding fix

By AMY L. KNAPP

[email protected]

 

Area educators gathered Tuesday to learn how they can help change the face of school funding in Ohio.

 

“Getting It Right! For Ohio’s Future” – a group of 12 leading educational groups throughout the state – met with area educators to explain the process for collecting signatures to include an amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot that would put the burden of funding Ohio’s schools on the state board of education.

 

Under the proposal, the amendment would require the state board to identify the cost of education for each student – including those with special needs, gifted students and vocational/technical students – and to meet that financial requirement.

 

MORE: http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=14272&r=1&Category=1

 

From the 3/1/07 Record-Courier:

 

Group eyes new school funding initiative

Portage educators gather to learn more about plan

March 1, 2007

By Jason De Leon

Record-Courier staff writer

 

The November ballot may include a constitutional amendment intended to do away with the property tax burden for funding public schools.  Portage County educators gathered Wednesday at Maplewood Career Center to learn more about the Getting It Right For Ohio's Future initiative.  "This is a proactive approach to properly fund schools," said Dewey Chapman, superintendent of the Portage County Educational Services Center.

 

The core of the amendment is to offer all students of Ohio a high quality, fairly funded education, according to the Campaign for Ohio's Future.  Overall, the amendment would calculate education's cost and require legislative action to make the state pay more of that cost with constitutional checks and balances.  Also, it would reduce the number of new local property tax levies and protect state funding for school facilities, local government and higher education, according to the group.

 

MORE: http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/1667011

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From the 3/1/07 Findlay Courier:

 

Petition drive aiming to put education issue on fall ballot

By DENISE GRANT

Staff Writer

 

A petition drive has begun to force the issue of disparity in Ohio's school funding system onto the November ballot.

 

On Wednesday area educators, including teachers, administrators and booster groups, turned out at the Findlay campus of Owens Community College to receive their marching orders: help collect 402,276 signatures statewide by Aug. 8.

 

That's the deadline for submitting signatures to Ohio's Secretary of State in order to put a constitutional amendment, "Getting It Right for Ohio's Future," on the November ballot.

 

The proposed amendment would make a high-quality education a fundamental right for every child in Ohio. Backers say it can be done, and the amendment would force lawmakers into action.

 

MORE: http://www.thecourier.com/Issues/2007/Mar/ar_news_030107.asp#story2

 

From the 3/4/07 Hudson Hub Times:

 

School funding forum attracts record size crowd

March 4, 2007

by Rachael Biasiotta

Associate Editor

 

Hudson -- A discussion on school funding and property taxes in Ohio may not seem like the type of event people tend to line up for, but a Feb. 27 forum hosted by the Hudson Economic Development Corp. and the Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce at the Hudson Holiday Inn certainly attracted quite a crowd.

 

The forum, the second joint effort between the HEDC and the Chamber, was the most well-attended breakfast event ever hosted by the Chamber, said Chamber Executive Director Carolyn Konefal. Konefal said an early tally of the total turnout at the breakfast was more than 80 people. She said breakfast gatherings usually average about 50 attendees.

 

Ed Devlin of the HEDC said he was very happy to see so many people interested in school funding and was pleased with the presentation given by Hudson Interim Superintendent L. Jack Thomas, Treasurer Bart Griffith and Interim Treasurer Lowell Davis -- three administrators who between them have 100 years of experience in 24 school districts.

 

MORE: http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/1672061

 

From the 3/6/07 ABJ:

 

The complete University of Washington draft report (PDF)

 

Study: Spend more on schools

16-31 percent increase urged, up to $4.8 billion more

By Dennis J. Willard

Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau

 

For years, state officials have been talking about the need to give each child in Ohio a world-class education, and finally a price tag has been attached to the idea: $2.4 billion to $4.8 billion in new money. 

 

The group that developed the plan is not the coalition that has successfully sued the state four times in the past decade, but a team of researchers at the University of Washington, funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has been sponsoring education research around the country.

 

The study suggests that Ohio should spend as much as 31 percent more on public education for such changes as longer school years, lower pupil-teacher ratios and significant improvements in early education.

 

A working draft of the study, called Education Policy and Finance Project for Ohio: Investments to Improve Student Performance, done by researchers at the Human Services Policy Center at the University of Washington, was obtained by the Beacon Journal through a public records request.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/16842810.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

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From same:

 

Costs

 

THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON STUDY

• $2.4 billion to $4.8 billion in additional spending. (Ohio spent about $15 billion on public education in the 2005-06 school year using state and local taxes).

• This represents a 16 percent to 31 percent increase in preschool-to-grade-12 public education spending.

• About 47 percent of the new money would come from the state if the current ratio of state-to-local contribution is maintained.

 

SCHOOL-CALENDAR SCENARIOS

(Lowest to highest cost).

• Increase the school year from 180 to 188 days, with 168 required as instructional.

• Year-round school, 180 instructional days, 200 total days for students in poor districts; 168 instructional and 188 total days for others.

• Year-round school, 185 instructional days, 205 total days for all students.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/16842820.htm

Both from the 3/8/07 Wooster Daily Record:

 

School amendment group corralling support

March 8, 2007

By LINDA HALL

Staff Writer

 

WOOSTER -- "These (are) exciting times," Barbara Shaner told school district representatives from three counties meeting at Wooster High School on Tuesday evening.

 

Pushing for petitions to get a school funding constitutional amendment on the ballot in November, Shaner -- the associate executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, an educational management organization -- hoped to catalyze the audience for a petition drive seeking more than 400,000 signatures supporting Getting It Right! For Ohio's Future.

 

Among the group of about 50 individuals -- including school treasurers, superintendents and board members -- the reaction leaned more toward friendly skepticism that the amendment solves the school funding problem and puzzlement over some of its seemingly ambiguous tenets than enthusiastic support.

 

MORE: http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/1695792

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Consensus is amendment plan will certainly generate discussion

March 8, 2007

By LINDA HALL

Staff Writer

 

WOOSTER -- The presentation about the school funding constitutional amendment a collaboration of education organizations is attempting to get on the November ballot left at least several of its audience members nonplused, yet still willing to cooperate in the effort.  "What I came expecting to hear was more about the amendment itself," Triway board member Tony Yacapraro said.

 

But he supported the recommendation made by Barbara Shaner, the associate executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.  "Without it being on the ballot, there is no discussion," Yacapraro agreed.  "If this is one of the steps to let legislators know (school funding) is important to voters," he'll get on the bandwagon. 

 

"The status quo hasn't done anything," Yacapraro said, adding he will "take more time to digest (the amendment's provisions)."

 

MORE: http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/1695732

 

From the 3/9/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

 

Report: Ohio must reform funding

State funding of education needs to be transparent, reliable and predictable.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

 

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ohio Department of Education has a report that it says can help create a world-class education system in the state, but the key to launching the effort centers on reforming school funding.

 

The report, done by Achieve Inc., a bipartisan, nonprofit education organization created by the nation's governors and business leaders, says Ohio needs to reform its state tax system to deliver funding for improved K-12 education.

 

It's not that the report recommendations would be expensive to implement, but there's a definite need to make the funding system more transparent, reliable and predictable, said Susan Tave Zelman, state superintendent of public instruction.

 

Ohio needs to be able to show the public what its money is buying, Zelman said. None of the proposals in the "Creating a World-Class Education System in Ohio" report can come to fruition unless that system can be funded, she said in a telephone interview with The Vindicator on Thursday.

 

MORE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/314489423631955.php

 

Strickland: End vouchers

March 13, 2007 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday laid out a dramatic series of new spending proposals and budget cuts in the first State of the State speech by a Democratic governor in almost two decades. 

 

Strickland proposed eliminating the state’s school voucher program, record funding increases for Ohio public universities and a tax break for gasoline producers to save money in a budget that will shrink state spending next year.

 

Concerned about the state’s high tuition costs, Strickland will recommend record funding increases for public colleges and universities in exchange for no tuition increases next year and only 3 percent the following year.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/NEWS01/303130040&GID=6ca18xKxHghS8xXvytcYuBYQ3ebRY0WA6dH1AnzMEE4%3D

Charter school moratorium divides

Democrats stand behind Strickland's proposal, but Republicans make the case in favor of vouchers.

By Laura A. Bischoff

Staff Writer

Thursday, March 14, 2007

 

COLUMBUS — When Gov. Ted Strickland announced plans to eliminate most school voucher programs and stop adding charter schools, Democrats jumped to their feet for a standing ovation.  Republicans sat in stony silence.

 

Afterward, they weren't so quiet.  "My concern with education has always been about the children and the families that we serve. By virtue of eliminating some of these opportunities for children we, by nature, send them back to schools that are failing," said Speaker Jon Husted, a champion of school choice policies in Ohio.  His advice to parents using state vouchers for private education: Call the governor and make the case in favor of vouchers.

 

The teachers unions had a different take.  "It is very bold of Gov. Strickland to eliminate vouchers and halt the expansion of Ohio's failed charter schools," said Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/03/14/ddn031507stateinside.html

 

School funding: Is it fixed?

SUBURBAN ABUNDANCE

Thursday, March 14, 2007

Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH 

 

Ohio's continued reliance on local property taxes to fund schools means vast spending gaps persist among districts across the state.  The ensuing system of haves and have-nots allows students in affluent districts such as Upper Arlington an abundance of opportunities.

 

Students can choose from a wide range of Advanced Placement courses, participate in nearly three dozen varsity sports and earn an International Baccalaureate diploma by completing a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum with an international focus.

 

Classes are smaller than in many schools.  Starting teacher salaries in the Columbus suburb next to Ohio State University are the highest in Franklin County; 87 percent of the staff has at least a master's degree.  Individual tutoring is available during study halls.  Nearly every graduate goes on to college.

 

"The people have high expectations. They want college prep," said Superintendent Jeffrey W. Weaver. "People move to Upper Arlington for the schools."  Taxpayers expect an exceptional education, and they are willing to pay for one.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/03/14/20070314-A1-00.html

Strickland: End vouchers

March 14, 2007 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday laid out a dramatic series of new spending proposals and budget cuts in the first State of the State speech by a Democratic governor in almost two decades. 

 

Strickland proposed eliminating the state’s school voucher program, record funding increases for Ohio public universities and a tax break for gasoline producers to save money in a budget that will shrink state spending next year.

 

Concerned about the state’s high tuition costs, Strickland will recommend record funding increases for public colleges and universities in exchange for no tuition increases next year and only 3 percent the following year.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070314/NEWS01/303140040&GID=6ca18xKxHghS8xXvytcYuBYQ3ebRY0WA6dH1AnzMEE4%3D

Dayton in middle of charter school lawsuit

By William Hershey

Staff Writer

March 14, 2007

 

COLUMBUS — Dayton is at the center of a new lawsuit filed here Friday over the constitutionality of Ohio's charter school program.  The suit charges that the Ohio Education Department and the state board of education have not properly monitored the performance of charter schools nor required charter schools to comply with terms of their contracts or state law.

 

The Ohio Education Association, a teachers' union, filed the suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of parents of Dayton Public School students and the Dayton Education Association President Patricia Lynch.

 

The suit asks the court to find that the state has enacted a funding plan for charter schools that "unconstitutionally diverts public money from traditional public school districts, including the Dayton City School district" in a way that denies the "thorough and efficient public education" required by the Ohio Constitution.

 

MORE:  http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/03/14/ddn031407charterweb.html

From the 3/15/07 DDN:

 

Charter school moratorium divides

Democrats stand behind Strickland's proposal, but Republicans make the case in favor of vouchers.

By Laura A. Bischoff

Staff Writer

Thursday, March 15, 2007

 

COLUMBUS — When Gov. Ted Strickland announced plans to eliminate most school voucher programs and stop adding charter schools, Democrats jumped to their feet for a standing ovation.  Republicans sat in stony silence.

 

Afterward, they weren't so quiet.  "My concern with education has always been about the children and the families that we serve. By virtue of eliminating some of these opportunities for children we, by nature, send them back to schools that are failing," said Speaker Jon Husted, a champion of school choice policies in Ohio.  His advice to parents using state vouchers for private education: Call the governor and make the case in favor of vouchers.

 

The teachers unions had a different take.  "It is very bold of Gov. Strickland to eliminate vouchers and halt the expansion of Ohio's failed charter schools," said Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/03/14/ddn031507stateinside.html

 

From the 3/16/07 Dispatch:

 

WEB EXTRA

See the full list of school district allocations in the new state budget (PDF)

 

GOVERNOR’S NEW BUDGET

School plan has districts a bit torn

Friday, March 16, 2007

Jim Siegel and Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Gregg Morris thinks Gov. Ted Strickland is making a sincere effort to address school-funding problems in Ohio, but the Gahanna-Jefferson superintendent isn’t too excited about it.  The total state funding increase for Gahanna under the two-year plan: zero.

 

Strickland’s proposed 3 percent annual increase in education funding is bigger than schools have seen in at least the past four years. But many districts wouldn’t see more money because the new Democratic governor is focusing the funding on poorer districts.

 

"He’s getting at a piece of the state funding issue to help more disadvantaged districts," Morris said. "It stops short of helping us to any degree. He just doesn’t go far enough."

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/16/20070316-A1-00.html

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From the 3/16/07 Enquirer:

 

Ohio to schools: No raise for you

Amounts vary; for Cincinnati, zero

BY CINDY KRANZ AND MICHAEL CLARK | [email protected] AND [email protected]

 

More than half of local school districts, including Cincinnati Public Schools, would get no increases in state funding for the next two years under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget.

 

Richard Gardner, interim treasurer for Cincinnati Public Schools, summarized his reaction to the budget proposal: "Not good."  "There is a tremendous amount of zeros on this worksheet, and it looks like most of those are in Southwest Ohio. It's disappointing that we're not looking at any increase to help with inflation. I would expect to see something for us that recognizes that costs are going to increase."

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070316/NEWS0102/703160395/

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From the 3/16/07 ABJ:

 

Budget no boon for 229 school districts

Stark County's Plain Local among those not receiving additional state funding under Strickland proposal

By Dennis J. Willard

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland announced Wednesday he wants to increase the state share of school funding in the next two years to 54 percent, but that doesn't mean districts will be awash in new money.

 

In fact, under the terms of the governor's State of the State address, 302 of the 613 school districts in Ohio will receive no increase in state dollars in the 2007-08 school year, which runs concurrently with the first year of the biennial budget.

 

The financial news from Columbus doesn't get any better for another 242 school districts that will see no increase in state funding in the 2008-09 school year. And under the proposal, more than one in three, or 229, school districts in Ohio will not receive a penny more in the next two years from the state than they are receiving in the current school year.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/16915805.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

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From the 3/16/07 Warren Tribune Chronicle:

 

Schools reviewing budget numbers

By STEPHEN ORAVECZ Tribune Chronicle

 

Public schools got their first inkling Thursday of how they would fare under funding changes the governor is proposing in his two-year budget.  About half the districts in Trumbull and Mahoning counties would see increases over the biennium.

 

Gov. Ted Strickland is proposing several changes in school funding:

 

* Basic per pupil aid would go up 3 percent in each year;

* Parity aid designed to bring lower-wealth districts more in line with richer districts would go up more than 70 percent, but will be targeted to fewer districts;

* Poverty-based assistance would go up 22 percent.

 

All three of those changes were factored into the funding formula to determine the amount of aid each district would receive.  Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said the increase in per-pupil aid is part of that formula and by itself does not mean each district would get more money.

 

MORE: http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=15802

 

From the AP, 3/17/07:

 

School vouchers ‘undemocratic,’ Strickland says

Charter-school movement in Ohio has been ‘a dismal, dismal failure,’ he says

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Julie Carr Smyth

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Gov. Ted Strickland sliced Ohio’s school-voucher program from his budget because he sees the concept as "inherently undemocratic," he said yesterday.  The first Democrat to run Ohio in 16 years expressed that concern, his distaste for companies that turn public dollars into charter-school profits.

 

Strickland announced during his State of the State speech Wednesday that his budget would eliminate the 2-year-old EdChoice voucher program, which is the second largest in the country and provides scholarships to 2,829 students in underperforming school districts to attend private schools.  Strickland would retain a separate voucher program in Cleveland.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/17/20070317-B3-02.html

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From the 3/17/07 Enquirer:

 

Governor's allocations puzzling

BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | [email protected]

 

Even school treasurers don't understand why some Ohio districts stand to gain state funding under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget, while half the other districts, including some of the Cincinnati area's neediest, will see no increase.

 

Only 11 of 49 districts in the four-county Cincinnati region would get more in the governor's proposed 2008 budget. That includes Wyoming, which would get a $2.5 million bump, and Edgewood City Schools, which would get $1.2 million more. In 2009, 20 districts would see state education funding rise.

 

Total state spending on education would increase $169 million across the state in the first year and $252 million in the second. Strickland said Wednesday that school funding would grow 3 percent per pupil in each of the next two years under his plan, while the state's share of school funding would expand from 49 percent of school budgets now to 54 percent in 2009.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/NEWS0102/703170451/1058/NEWS01

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From the 3/17/07 Record-Courier:

 

Ravenna, Aurora schools may get more state funds

Strickland's budget also eyes additional money for Mogadore

March 17, 2007

By Dave O'Brien and Don Jovich

Record-Courier staff writers

 

Gov. Ted Strickland's school funding budget proposal for fiscal years 2007-09 promises more money to three Portage County school districts while leaving nine with no proposed increase in state foundation funds through 2009.  The proposal was unveiled Thursday by the state Office of Budget and Management

 

The Aurora, Ravenna and Mogadore school districts would receive additional funding of between $333,000 and $836,000 through fiscal year 2009, according to OBM numbers. The news that Streetsboro schools would not be receiving any additional funding from the state over the next two years did not come as a surprise to Superintendent Tom Giovangnoli.

 

The district now receives a little more than $4 million in state funding, which works out to roughly 23 percent of the district's total budget.

 

MORE: http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/1733522

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From the 3/17/07 Ashtabula Star Beacon:

 

School voucher program may be history

LISA DAVIS

Star Beacon

 

In his State of the State Address, Gov. Ted Strickland made a couple superintendents in Ashtabula County very happy.  Strickland Wednesday proposed eliminating the state's school voucher program known as the Ohio Educational Choice (EdChoice) Scholarship program.

 

"In the first year of my budget, general revenue spending will actually shrink, and over the two-year span of the budget total spending will increase a modest 2.2 percent annually," Strickland said in his address.  "That's lower than the growth rate in House Bill 66. In fact, it's lower than any budget in the last 42 years. So as we ask for sacrifice, we must demonstrate responsibility. Wastefulness and giveaways can no longer be tolerated. That's why my budget eliminates the Ed Choice voucher program."

 

MORE: http://www.starbeacon.com/local/local_story_076072323

 

An excellent summary from the 3/18/07 Dispatch:

 

GRAPHIC: The DeRolph cases

 

WHAT WENT ON IN THE SUPREME COURT

School funding: Is it fixed?

Sunday, March 18, 2007

By Joe Hallett

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A decade ago, the Ohio Supreme Court issued the first of four rulings that the state school-funding system was unconstitutional.  This week, The Dispatch looks at their lingering effects. 

 

Deliberations raged for seven years at the Ohio Supreme Court.  The justices declared Ohio’s system of funding schools unconstitutional four times, the first ruling arriving 10 years ago this week.  The story of how they made those decisions has never been told, but now it can be based on exclusive Dispatch interviews with four of the seven justices.

 

They wrote brilliantly and stretched the bounds of credulity.  They soared sublimely at times and crashed inanely at others.  One justice, for instance, wanted to shut down state government until the legislature fixed the school-funding system.  Two others, desperate to get rid of the case, switched their positions and vainly tried to impose a solution, only to eat crow.

 

The case had a face: Nathan DeRolph, the 15-year-old high school freshman at Sheridan High School in Perry County who lent his name to the 1991 lawsuit against the state by 550 school districts.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/18/20070318-A1-00.html

From the 3/19/07 Dispatch:

 

GRAPHIC: Growing property taxes

GRAPHIC: Tax returns: Like Robin Hood?

List of 389 districts at the 20-mill level (PDF)

Full list of Ohio's "donor" districts (PDF)

 

School funding: Is it fixed?

LESS = MORE FOR SCHOOLS

Monday, March 19, 2007

Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

For every $1 that Bexley residents send to the state in income taxes, the school district gets back about 15 cents. New Albany residents could be jealous of such a return. Their district receives 8 cents on the dollar.

 

Meanwhile, for every $1 in state income tax paid by Whitehall residents, the district collects $1.73. It’s $2.02 in Hamilton Local, $2.13 in Amanda-Clearcreek in Fairfield County.

 

For years, the Ohio Supreme Court and some lawmakers have condemned any funding setup that creates a blatant "Robin Hood" effect, in which rich districts pay for poor schools. But to some extent it’s already happening.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/19/20070319-A1-03.html

 

From the 3/20/07 Dispatch:

 

Speaker OK with school plan

GOP leader pledges cooperation, sees a few battles in budget debate

Tuesday,  March 20, 2007

By Jim Siegel and Mark Niquette

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If Ohio schools don't have a problem with Gov. Ted Strickland's two-year funding proposal, House Speaker Jon A. Husted says he doesn't, either.

 

Husted said the governor's proposal, which increases base funding by 3 percent per year, directs more funds toward low-income districts and cuts property taxes for seniors, will pass his chamber with few changes if schools don't raise red flags. Husted spoke on the budget for the first time yesterday.

 

The proposal basically uses the same funding structure created by legislative Republicans, Husted said. And while the speaker doesn't see much new money for schools in Strickland's plan, "if the schools accept the governor's plan as an improvement, and he can sell it better than we could, then I commend him for it."

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/03/20/GOPTURN.ART_ART_03-20-07_E1_1265CMR.html

Schools solution still on horizon

Budget only first step toward funding fix, Strickland says; lawmakers look over plan

Wednesday,  March 21, 2007 3:36 AM

By Mark Niquette and Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Ted Strickland, who has staked his success as governor on solving the state's school-funding problem, says changes in his proposed budget are a significant step in that direction.

 

But Strickland made it clear yesterday that he considers the budget only a start -- and that he continues to meet with a variety of groups to develop a funding plan.

 

And although the new governor made school funding a centerpiece of his campaign this past fall, he refused to be pinned down on a timetable for taking action despite GOP jibes.

 

"Our goal is to stay at it in an incremental way until we get to the point where we believe the system has achieved a level of fairness, and equity and state support that would be consistent with what the courts would determine to be a constitutional system."

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/03/21/govplan.ART_ART_03-21-07_B1_U765084.html

From the 3/24/07 Dispatch:

 

* PHOTO: Elizabeth McFann and other students begin their ride home through the hills of southern Ohio after a day in class. Southern Local is seeing dwindling state aid erode the gains made 10 years ago.  CHRIS RUSSELL | DISPATCH

* GRAPHIC: Southern Local schools

 

Decade of gains dissipating

Saturday,  March 24, 2007 3:33 AM

By Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

CORNING, Ohio -- The problems in the Southern Local School District were glaring.  Nestled in the hills of poverty-stricken southeastern Ohio were classrooms with crumbling plaster.  Pools of water gathered from leaking roofs.  Textbooks were outdated.  Word of dismal conditions across the Appalachian region spread when the Perry County school district and neighboring Northern Local filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the governor and legislature weren't meeting the state's constitutional obligation to fund public schools.

 

Ten years ago today, a decision by the Ohio Supreme Court finding the funding system unconstitutional was met with relief and hope in Southern Local and other poor districts across the state.  Educators, parents and students felt they were about to be rescued.  And, for a time, the future looked brighter.  As the state opened the money spigot wider, the district renovated a high school and opened a new middle school and elementary school to replace five rundown buildings.  The complex, paid for almost entirely by the state, was a beacon of hope.

 

But a decade later, Southern Local is again in financial trouble.  The salaries of all staff members were frozen this year, and 13 positions have been eliminated.  The remedial-reading teacher, the elementary guidance counselor, the curriculum director and the middle-school arts program are gone.  New science labs lack equipment.  Some classes don't have enough textbooks, so students can't take one home at night.  And there is not a single advanced-placement course.  What happened?

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/03/24/southern_local.ART_ART_03-24-07_A1_GG665RI.html

 

From the 3/25/07 Dispatch:

 

Chart: School district revenue changes 1997-2006 (PDF)

 

SCHOOL FUNDING: HAS OHIO FIXED IT?

School funding

Sunday,  March 25, 2007 3:39 AM

By Jim Siegel and Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Ohio schools get billions more in state money today than they did 10 years ago, and they have more options to raise local revenue.  Yet a decade after the Ohio Supreme Court issued its first of four decisions finding the way the state pays for public schools unconstitutional, many problems cited in those decisions persist.

 

Not counting federal money, the state paid 45 percent of the cost of a child's education in 1997.  Today, that share is 45.5 percent.  Districts continue to flood the ballot with levies.  And with the continuing reliance on local property taxes, the revenue gap between the state's richest and poorest districts is almost as big as ever.

 

Ohio taxpayers aren't feeling any relief, either.  The average Franklin County district approved 11 mills of additional property tax in the past decade.  Student scores on state tests and college-entrance exams are up, but so is the number of districts charging a fee to participate in sports or other extracurricular activities.

 

So, 10 years after the high court's first ruling, is school funding fixed?

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/03/25/10YRmain.ART_ART_03-25-07_A1_3P65O4Q.html

---

From same:

 

What Strickland is proposing

 

Gov. Ted Strickland's two-year school-funding proposal would:

 

• Increase per-student base funding by 3 percent each year, from $5,403 this year to $5,732 in fiscal 2009.

 

• Increase parity aid -- money to help even out disparities between poor and wealthy districts -- by about 8 percent over two years and reduce eligibility from the poorest 80 percent of districts to the poorest 60 percent.

 

• Provide no additional state money for 228 districts, including 10 of 16 in Franklin County.

 

• Cut property taxes for 775,000 seniors and disabled homeowners by exempting the first $25,000 of property value from taxation. The state would pick up the $260 million annual cost.

 

• Eliminate the state voucher program everywhere but Cleveland and ban for-profit companies from operating charter schools.

 

To read more, go to: www.obm.ohio.gov.

 

---

From same:

 

Some interesting school funding facts

 

6 - Cuyahoga County school districts ranked in 2006 among the top eight Ohio districts in revenue per pupil.

26 - Cuyahoga County districts ranked in the top 100 in revenue per pupil.

1 - Stark County districts ranked in the top 100 in revenue per pupil (Canton, 61)

5 - Stark County districts ranked in the bottom 20 in revenue per pupil.

$500 million - Amount elected officials said would be spent on parity aid by 2006, when the five-year phase-in started in 2002.

$459 million - Amount actually spent on parity aid in 2006, 8 percent less than what was expected.

10.6% - State's share of all revenue at Princeton City Schools in Hamilton County, lowest in the state.

78.7% - State's share of all revenue at Huntington Local Schools in Ross County, highest in the state.

$19,456 - Total revenue per pupil for Orange City Schools in Cuyahoga County, tops in the state.

$6,636 - Total revenue per pupil for Louisville City Schools in Stark County, lowest in the state.

50.2 - Effective millage rate in New Albany-Plain Local, highest in Franklin County.

27.1 - Effective millage rate in Groveport Madison, lowest in Franklin County.

1 - Of the four Ohio Supreme Court justices who ruled the state's funding system unconstitutional, the number still on the bench today (Paul Pfeifer).

$69,303 - Average 2006 teacher salary in the Mentor schools (Cuyahoga County), highest in the state.

$32,994 - Average 2006 teacher salary in Bettsville schools (Seneca County), lowest in the state.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/extras/0307/schoolfacts.html

 

Article 6, Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution

"The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state."

From the 3/26/07 Alliance Review:

 

School officials learn about funding issue

March 26, 2007

By LINDA SALSBERRY

The Review

 

The debut of a PowerPoint presentation on the Education Amendment was no competition for a sunny spring day, but representatives of eight area boards of education, administrations and a few members of the general public attended a session Sunday afternoon at Alliance High School Auditorium.

 

The Education Advocates' Proposal for School Funding (Constitutional Amendment - Guaranteeing High Quality Public Education) is now in the process of collecting the more than 400,000 signatures needed to place the issue on the November ballot.  According to Sandy Nekoloff, president of the Ohio PTA, the true goal of the 12 member organizations of The Getting it Right! Coalition is one signature per student in the state, or 1.8 million.

 

He noted that Saturday was the 10th anniversary of the first ruling of the DeRolph v. state of Ohio that resulted in four Ohio Supreme Court rulings declaring the state's funding formula unconstitutional.  "The biggest battle," according to Nekoloff, "is getting people to not think about the old broken system and think of this as a new system."

 

The full text of the proposed amendment is four pages. It and other information is available at the Web site www.rightforohio.org

 

MORE: http://www.the-review.com/news/article/1769222

 

From the 3/29/07 PD:

 

Angry exchanges overshadow school-spending testimony

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Aaron Marshall

Plain Dealer Bureau

 

Columbus - Tempers flared Wednesday as lawmakers got their first chance to directly question Gov. Ted Strickland's budget chief about the governor's $52.9 billion spending plan.

 

Appearing before the House Finance Committee, Pari Sabety answered questions for several hours on a range of budget details, primarily from Republican members of the panel.

 

It was a historic moment - the first time since 1971 that a Democratic budget director appeared to defend a state budget before a Republican-controlled legislature.  The session eventually grew heated and partisan emotions boiled over.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1175158037286060.xml&coll=2

From the 3/28/07 Greenville Daily Advocate:

 

Education plan well received locally

Most agree, however, that the legislature could change everything

Bob Robinson

Managing Editor

 

GREENVILLE - Strickland seems to be focusing on children's needs in education... something previous administrations had not done.  This was the general reaction of most district school superintendents in Darke County.

 

Two weeks ago, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland gave his State of the State address.  Two days later, he gave his budget for the 2008-09 fiscal years to the General Assembly.

 

Last week, the Daily Advocate reported comments by public officials serving Darke County.  Reaction was mixed.  The Advocate was able to make contact with six Darke County superintendents regarding their reactions to Strickland's plans for education.

 

MORE: http://www.dailyadvocate.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=123494&TM=79984.49

 

Strickland announces intention to give schools a windfall of state aid

Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed making more than $4 million available to Springfield City Schools between 2007 and 2009.

By Gail Cetnar

Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

 

Springfield City Schools may get more than $4 million in state aid under Gov. Ted Strickland's budget proposal, he announced Monday in a visit to Snowhill Elementary School.

 

Under the governor's plan, the financially strapped district would receive an average of 4 percent each of the next two years, totaling the more than $4 million between 2007 and 2009, he said. Strickland outlined his plan while discussing the education portion of his most recent budget proposal at the school.

 

The governor has visited school districts around the state the past two weeks to discuss his budget. Prior to arriving at Snowhill, where he read to students before his speech, Strickland visited districts in Kenton and Bellefontaine early Monday.

 

MORE: http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/03/sns040307governor.html

 

Oak Hills deal will boost taxes

BY JESSICA BROWN | [email protected]

April 3, 2007

 

GREEN TWP. - Residents of the Oak Hills School District will be paying more in property taxes next year for school improvements, despite vocal opposition from the county auditor, who said it amounts to a tax increase without voter approval.

 

The Hamilton County Budget Commission voted Tuesday to allow the school district to transfer some of its “inside millage” – property tax revenue that the district receives without voter approval – from its general fund into a “permanent improvement fund.” There, the millage will generate up to $5 million annually for improvements ranging from computers to building repairs.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/NEWS01/399990063

I for one think that this is a GREAT move by the school district!  While some argue that it is devious and sneaky, I think that it is a way for the district to be more up front with the taxpayers.

 

They will no longer have to do the song and dance of "approve this levee and we won't ask again soon"...then sure enough a couple of years later the school district comes asking for money again.  It takes the debate out of the equation and allows the proper education of our youth to continue without a hitch.

 

I applaud the forsight of the board on this decision and hopefully other school districts will follow suit and get more creative with the ways that they fund their schools.  Oak Hills School District has certainly done a brilliant job over the years!

From the 4/1/07 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

Amendment would change school funding

By Linda Ebbing

Staff Writer

Monday, April 02, 2007

 

BUTLER COUNTY — A proposed constitutional amendment concerning school funding in Ohio has mixed support locally. 

 

"A majority of people in Butler County support changes to Ohio's school funding system that would reduce the number of new local property taxes," Ross Superintendent Todd Yohey said.  "I think the amendment addresses many of the concerns that I hear from people who are tired of the continuous school levy cycle in Ohio."

 

Yohey, along with several other Butler County educators, recently met with supporters of the Getting It Right for Ohio's Future campaign to share results from the House Bill 920 survey conducted last year.

 

The coalition includes a number of agencies and organizations that want to improve educational opportunities for all students by "fixing" the school funding system in Ohio, a system that has been found unconstitutional, not once, but three times by the Ohio Supreme Court, Yohey said.

 

MORE: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/01/hjn040207amendment.html

---

From the 3/31/07 Ashtabula Star Beacon:

 

Area school leaders like what they heard from governor

LISA DAVIS

Star Beacon

 

Gov. Ted Strickland's proposal to fix the public education funding system has some area superintendents encouraged and hopeful school district will get more state funds.

 

On March 14, Strickland discussed his proposal during his State of the State address.  "My proposals do not solve all the problems of our schools, but they represent a major advance toward providing adequate and equitable funding for our primary and secondary schools," Strickland said.

 

Geneva Area City Schools Superintendent Ronald Donatone is encouraged by the governor's proposal, he said. Strickland is trying to address some of the concerns in the Ohio public schools.  Though Donatone is encouraged, he said it's a long process before the budget is approved.  "I am sure the Legislature will come back with it's own proposal as will the Ohio Department of Education," he said.

 

MORE: http://www.starbeacon.com/local/local_story_090172311

---

From the 4/1/07 News-Herald:

 

Districts fear losses in funding

'Robin Hood' scenario cited by area lawmakers

David W. Jones/[email protected]

04/01/2007

 

State Rep. Matt Dolan isn't happy about Gov. Ted Strickland proposing no state funding increases for any school district in Dolan's Geauga County base.

 

Only two of Lake County's nine school districts would get increased funding in state fiscal years 2008 and 2009.  But poorer rural and urban districts would get more such revenue.

 

The state fiscal plan for schools goes before Dolan, R-Russell Township, chairman of the Ohio House of Representatives Finance and Appropriations Committee in Columbus.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18155326&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

From the 4/3/07 Bellefontaine Examiner:

 

Strickland brings budget campaign to Bellefontaine

By Joel E. Mast

Bellefontaine Examiner Staff Writer

04/03/07

 

Gov. Ted Strickland took his budget campaign to the road Monday visiting Bellefontaine’s Southeastern Elementary School to tout the benefits of his education proposals.

 

If state lawmakers back his proposed twoyear budget, Bellefontaine City Schools will see a 7.85 percent increase in state funding in the next two years.  That’s about $1 million more a year, he said.

 

Bellefontaine currently receives around $11.7 million.  That would grow to $13.6 million in the second year of his budget.

 

MORE: http://www.examiner.org/news04.03.php

 

I for one think that this is a GREAT move by the school district!  While some argue that it is devious and sneaky, I think that it is a way for the district to be more up front with the taxpayers.

 

They will no longer have to do the song and dance of "approve this levee and we won't ask again soon"...then sure enough a couple of years later the school district comes asking for money again.  It takes the debate out of the equation and allows the proper education of our youth to continue without a hitch.

 

I applaud the forsight of the board on this decision and hopefully other school districts will follow suit and get more creative with the ways that they fund their schools.  Oak Hills School District has certainly done a brilliant job over the years!

 

AAAAAHHHHHH, words of wisdom from a non property owner!!

It doesn't matter whether I own property or not!  I know that Oak Hills maintains an excellent school rating while having some of the lowest costs per student in the state (especially when compared to similar districts)!

 

Oak Hills long ago, made students pay for bus service if they used it (a major issue with many districts today)...as a result Oak Hills has been able to offer bus service without the headache and costs that other districts deal with.

 

Oak Hills also made it a policy that if you play sports or participate in extracurricular activities that you pay to support that effort.  Public tax dollars do not support special interests of particular students.  If you cannot afford to pay the fee yourself...there are fund raising opportunities that are always able to offset those costs.

 

So if you disagree with me then fine...state your point and facts to back up your point that Oak Hills is robbing the taxpayers blind.  But I get REAL miffed when someone says...ohh you're only ___ years old and therefore you cannot know what you're talking and/or your points are not valid.  Why the hell is it that in order to be knowledgeable/have an opinion mean that you need to own property?  Answer me that oh wise one...I'm just a whippersnapper who has no idea what I'm talking about  :wtf:

Voucher backers rip Ohio budget

Governor caving to unions, they claim

By JIM PROVANCE

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

 

COLUMBUS - Supporters of Ohio's statewide school voucher program yesterday accused Gov. Ted Strickland of caving in to teachers' unions and stealing the hope of children by trying to kill the program.

 

"This is personal," said a tearful Becky Jordan, whose daughter attends East Liverpool Christian School at state expense. "This is my daughter," she said. "This is her education, and he's trying to take it away from her."

 

In his $52.9 billion, two-year budget proposal, the Democratic governor called for elimination of the first-year program providing grants for private school tuition for students seeking to escape academically struggling public schools.

 

Parents with children receiving Educational Choice Scholarships from Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Youngstown, and East Liverpool met yesterday with House Speaker Jon Husted (R., Kettering). They hope the Republican-controlled General Assembly will defend the program.

 

MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/NEWS24/704040427/-1/NEWS

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From the 4/4/07 Alliance Review:

 

Sen. Schuring touts education funding proposal

Schuring touts education funding proposal

By LINDA SALSBERRY

The Review

 

Ohio Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, opened the Continued Learning program semester at Mount Union College Tuesday morning with a call to "mine our intellectual resources."

 

For months, he has been working on a school funding reform proposal that he hopes will gain bipartisan and state administration support and be on the ballot in November.  "The education funding system is broken and if we want to do what we need to do, we're going to have to change it."

 

His proposal recommends a separate education budget from the general revenue budget. The Ohio Education Trust Fund would be responsible for funding primary, secondary and higher education.  It would earmark part of the state income tax, sales tax and certain excise taxes as its funding source.

 

MORE: http://www.the-review.com/news/article/1809522

 

From the 4/6/07 Mansfield News Journal:

 

Ontario schools sued over Web link supporting education funding amendment

By Jami Kinton

News Journal

 

ONTARIO -- The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending & Taxes -- known as COAST -- is suing the Ontario Board of Education for what it calls "unconstitutional policies and practices."

 

Around the beginning of March, the district posted a link from its Web site to a site called Getting it Right! For Ohio's Future.  The site advocates a state constitutional amendment that would require the state to pay a higher portion of education costs and reduce the number of new local property tax levies.  Getting it Right! must collect 402,276 valid signatures to place the amendment issue on the November ballot.

 

MORE: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070406/NEWS01/704060324/1002/rss01

 

From the 4/7/07 Dispatch:

 

State revising school-funding disbursement plan

Discovery of at least one error spurs review

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Miscalculations in how much state funding individual school districts would get under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget have sent budget experts and the Ohio Department of Education back to their spreadsheets.

 

The state Office of Budget and Management this week pulled the district-by-district school funding breakdown from its Web site after discovering mistakes that will affect an unknown number of district estimates.

 

"As soon as we work through all the numbers and verify them for accuracy and veracity, we will re-release the school funding breakdown," said Keith Dailey, spokesman for Strickland.

 

Although the estimates will change as the budget is altered during the legislative process, district officials and lawmakers use the breakdown to determine whether schools are getting a fair shake and whether additional changes should be made.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/04/07/20070407-B3-00.html

 

From the 4/10/07 Dispatch:

 

Move would keep vouchers

Republicans think budget tweak can save program

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Catherine Candisky and Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Republicans controlling the legislature think they have a way to save a statewide school-voucher program that Gov. Ted Strickland wants to eliminate.  Their strategy is simply to strike from Strickland's proposed two-year state budget the language that would eliminate vouchers, a move they think would leave the Democratic governor with no procedural recourse.

 

Strickland has proposed a number of changes to current law, including elimination of the EdChoice Scholarship Program, which provides up to $5,000 a year in private-school tuition to about 2,880 students in failing public schools.  The voucher program is prized by Republicans controlling the House and Senate, including Speaker Jon A. Husted, R-Kettering, who has said he will fight to save it.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/04/10/20070410-A1-01.html

 

From the 4/12/07 Dispatch:

 

Fewer districts get aid boost in revised budget

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

School districts received new estimates yesterday on how much state aid they would receive under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed two-year budget.  Budget analysts revised the figures after realizing mistakes had been made in the calculations influencing 425 of Ohio's 614 school districts.

 

The bottom line: A slightly smaller number of districts would get an increase in state aid under the governor's plan than originally projected.  Specifically, 302 districts would get more next school year, nine fewer than initially thought.  The next year, 368 districts would receive more state aid instead of 371.

 

Likely changes made to the budget as it moves through the House and Senate the next several weeks also will affect the figures.  Under Strickland's budget plan, state aid would increase 2.4 percent next year and 3.9 percent the following year.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/04/12/20070412-D3-01.html

---

From the 4/12/07 Lisbon Morning Journal:

 

Columbiana staff will gather signatures supporting school funding change

By MATTHEW SCHOMER

Journal Staff Writer

 

COLUMBIANA — Columbiana school officials will be asking school employees to gather support for a state constitutional amendment to reform school funding.

 

Superintendent Ron Iarussi told the Board of Education Wednesday he and district Treasurer Lori Posey have had a good deal of discussion about the amendment, and he will be enlisting district employees to collect signatures for the petition to put the amendment on the state ballot.

 

The petition would need more than 400,000 signatures statewide to put the issue on the November ballot, but backers of the amendment are aiming for 1.8 million — one signature per pupil in Ohio’s public schools.  In Columbiana, that means collecting 1,039 signatures, or 11 per employee of the school district.

 

MORE: http://morningjournalnews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=5672

---

From ThisWeek Worthington, 4/12/07:

 

Board seeks additional information on funding amendment

Thursday, April 12, 2007

By CANDY BROOKS

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

As the Worthington Board of Education begins to grapple with the complex ramifications of the proposed state school-funding amendment, one board member already knows for sure where he stands.  "This amendment is bad for Worthington taxpayers, bad for Worthington Schools, and potentially devastating for Ohio's economy," board member Marc Schare said during Monday's board meeting.

 

The board did not vote to support or oppose the amendment, but directed administrators to invite one of the movement's designers to come to a meeting and address both the board and the public.

 

If enough signatures are collected, Ohio voters will decide this fall on the amendment aimed at guaranteeing a high-quality education for all Ohio students.  The state legislature would then be required to fund what the commission dictates.  It would shift the tax burden for schools from local property owners to the state, but does not specify how the state would raise that money.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/041207/Worthington/News/041207-News-336364.html

 

Supporters scurry to save vouchers

BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | [email protected]

April 12, 2007

 

A week before the application deadline for the second year of Ohio’s EdChoice school voucher program, a fight is brewing in Columbus to keep school vouchers alive in Ohio.

 

Gov. Ted Strickland wants to eliminate the year-old voucher program before the start of the next school year. He said that would save the state $13.8 million a year, which could be spent on public schools.

 

But dozens of parents and students who receive vouchers traveled to Columbus this week and last to testify and hold press conferences defending the program.

 

“We don’t want to lose these vouchers,” said Chanda Heard, a Madisonville mother whose three children attend Christ Emmanuel Christian Academy in East Walnut Hills.

Both from the 4/13/07 PD:

 

Charter school advocates cry foul

Strickland budget plan would cut parity aid

Friday, April 13, 2007

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Charter school advocates say Gov. Ted Strickland's plan for charter school accountability is looking more like a blueprint for charter school annihilation.  At issue is Strickland's proposed budget, now being debated in the state legislature.

 

Charter school advocates say the proposal could cripple some of the state's 306 independently operated, publicly funded schools.  Citizens' Academy in Cleveland, for example - one of the state's top-performing charter schools - stands to lose as much as $200,000 a year from the loss of state parity aid.

 

The money is intended to bridge the gaps between high-wealth and low-wealth districts.  The cut represents about 5 percent of the East Side school's $3.9 million budget, said Perry White, director of the academy.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1176453540134110.xml&coll=2

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Changes ahead?

Friday, April 13, 2007

 

Gov. Ted Strickland's budget proposal calls for significant changes in the way charter schools are paid for and operated.  The proposal would:

 

* Cut per-pupil funding for charter schools by no longer allowing them to collect parity aid - aid to bridge the gap between high-wealth and low-wealth districts.

 

* Cut per-pupil funding by $2,000 or more for "cyber" schools, statewide charters in which students take their courses online.

 

* Forbid the opening of any new charter schools until at least 2009, when a better accountability and oversight system can be in place. Existing charter schools could not open new locations.

 

* Ban all for-profit companies from operating charter schools in Ohio. Current for-profit firms could serve out their contracts but could not be rehired.

 

* Require charter schools to comply with the same rules and regulations as traditional public schools, including rules for the hiring, firing and licensing of teachers.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1176453821134110.xml&coll=2

From the 4/14/07 News-Herald:

 

State funding for schools wouldn't change much under governor's proposal

Few area school districts affected

By: Justin Maynor

[email protected]

04/14/2007

 

A revised breakdown of how Gov. Ted Strickland's new budget proposal would fund schools shows only one district between Lake and Geauga counties would see more state money in the coming years.

 

Total state aid would freeze at its current level through fiscal year 2009 for all districts except Painesville City Schools, which would get a 6.7 percent increase in foundation funding next fiscal year and an 8.4 percent increase the following year, according to data released this week by the governor's Office of Budget and Management.

 

This is the second public release of budget projections from the office, the first of which was riddled with errors.  The complete report is online at www.obm.ohio.gov.

 

MORE: http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18210343&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

From Dix newspapers, 4/16/07:

 

School voucher proponents address state lawmakers

Governor's proposed budget eliminates program

By MARC KOVAC

Dix Communications

 

COLUMBUS -- Middle school student Nicholas Craig recounted the spit balls, fist fights and mayhem that accompanied his days in the Columbus Public School system.  He contrasted that learning environment with the private education he receives at a Christian school, made possible through a state voucher system.  And he urged lawmakers last week to retain those vouchers, which would be discontinued under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed biennial operating budget.

 

"I think that if we did not have the EdChoice Program, I would not be able to attend a good school," Craig said.  "Please fight to keep this program so that I can continue to focus on my education and to strive for my highest."  The youngster was among the dozens of education advocates at the Statehouse, testifying before the House's Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee.

 

MORE: http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/1863961

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From the 4/16/07 Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune:

 

Lakota officials talking about new amendment

By Lisa Peer, Correspondent

 

Lakota Local Schools District Board of Education is confronting the new issue of promoting awareness of the possible constitutional amendment to redesign the state’s funding for public schools, as discussed during their meeting April 9.  The amendment has the possibility of being on the ballot this fall, depending on support from the public.

 

Each school district has been given petitions, with a total of more than 402,000 signatures being needed to place the amendment on the ballot for the November elections.  Lakota is to create a committee to pass out information about the petition and create a plan for getting signatures.  One suggestion for gathering signatures includes setting up posts at sporting events and other school events.  Although the signatures are to support putting the issue on the ballot, they do not show support for the issue itself.

 

Along with this, only signatures of registered voters are to be used in the count.  Lakota board members said the importance of this amendment is it will lower the number of property tax levies and require more financial support from the state government, essentially protecting the financial situations of school districts.

 

MORE: http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/articles.asp?articleID=7620

 

From Suburban Life, 4/16/07:

 

School funding proposal raises questions

BY FORREST SELLERS | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

MADEIRA - Several Madeira City Council members are wary of a proposed school funding alternative.  An organization called the Alliance for Adequate School Funding seeks to place a constitutional amendment - which proposes an alternative to school funding - on the November ballot.

 

The proposal recommends using surplus sales tax and surplus income tax revenue to cover educational costs in the state of Ohio.  It also recommends less of a reliance on property taxes.

 

Councilman John Dobbs called it a Robin Hood approach to school funding.  "No one likes taxes, but when I am told my taxes will go down and schools will be better funded, it raises some serious questions," Dobbs said via e-mail.

 

MORE: http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20070416/NEWS01/704160335/

 

From the 4/18/07 Dispatch:

 

RE-EVALUATION OF SCHOOL CHOICE

Vouchers, charters facing the fire

Wednesday,  April 18, 2007 3:37 AM

By Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

About 10 years after the launch of the school-choice movement in Ohio, almost 80,000 students are attending charter schools or receiving vouchers for private-school tuition.  But now those schools are facing the most serious questions since their creation.

 

Gov. Ted Strickland wants a moratorium on new charter schools and abolishment of a statewide voucher program created last year.  An older Cleveland voucher program would remain intact.  Lawmakers created a pilot voucher program in Cleveland in 1995 and began the charter-school program in 1997, both to give low-income students an escape from poorly performing schools.

 

Now, with nearly 9,000 students receiving vouchers and 70,000 attending charter schools, the programs are at a crossroads: Have they helped Ohio's education system or hurt it?

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/18/choice.ART_ART_04-18-07_B1_246DRDN.html

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From the 4/18/07 Enquirer:

 

School bounced from voucher program

BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected]

 

The Marva Collins Preparatory School in Roselawn is the first private school in Ohio to be kicked out of the state’s fledgling voucher program, state regulators confirmed today.  In a letter to Marva Collins principal, Cleaster Mims, the state Education Department said it intended to remove the pre-kindergarten to 6th grade school from the list of schools eligible to accept vouchers.

 

According to the letter, the school was unable to prove that three of its teachers are certified to teach, and could not document mandatory background checks for three others.  Furthermore, the letter said, the school had the same teacher teaching math and science in multiple grades simultaneously.

 

The state’s decision would be a serious blow to the school, Mims said.  Almost half of its student body – 53 of its 110 students – pays the $4,200 annual tuition with vouchers.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070418/NEWS01/304180037/

 

From the 4/19/07 Martins Ferry Times Leader:

 

Narcisi touts funding amendment

By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff Writer

 

The Shadyside Board of Education welcomed back a familiar face for its regular monthly meeting Wednesday.

 

Former Shadyside Superintendent Jerry Narcisi returned to the school district, this time as an advocate for school funding change, explaining how a proposed state constitutional amendment can help the financially strapped district while lowering property taxes.

 

The amendment, “Getting it Right for Ohio’s Future,” is similar to the “Educate Ohio” amendment which failed to make the ballot.

 

MORE: http://timesleaderonline.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=6968

 

From the 4/20/07 Lima News:

 

Board waiting to vote on school funding amendment

Beth L. Jokinen | [email protected] - 04.20.2007

 

LIMA — A Lima school board member said she isn’t comfortable voting to support an initiative to get a constitutional amendment involving school funding on the ballot until the community has the chance to weigh in.

 

The board was to vote on a resolution to support the Getting It Right for Ohio’s Future campaign at Thursday’s board meeting, but Bobbie McGinnis requested that it wait to get input from the community.

 

“I feel we need more time to study the resolution and give the public a chance to register their concerns,” she said. “This is a very serious decision.”

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=37580

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From the 4/19/07 St. Mary's Evening Leader:

 

Questions remain over school funding     

By KAY LOUTH

Staff Writer

 

WAPAKONETA — Prior to an evening celebrating students, several local school administrators and board members took the opportunity to hear more about a proposal to make school funding a constitutional amendment.  At Wapakoneta High School Wednesday night, Buckeye Association of School Administrators Executive Director Jerry Klenke addressed educators about the proposal.  The project is part of the drive to get 420,000 signatures on a petition to get the issue on the November ballot.

 

New Bremen school kicked off their petition drive April 13 at the school’s open house according to K-8 Principal Karen Smith and Board of Education President Mark Barhorst, both of whom are in favor of the movement.  Over the past 10 years, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Ohio’s method of funding schools is unconstitutional.  Calling the effort the school association’s response to get legislators to act, Barhorst said, “It’s been 10 years and here we are today virtually the same.”

 

MORE: http://www.theeveningleader.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5216&Itemid=27

 

From the 4/22/07 ABJ:

 

Ohio's aid for repair of schools out of reach

27 districts can't build or fix facilities unless voters pass bond levy to cover part of cost; many officials give up hope

By Dennis J. Willard

Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau

 

COLUMBUS - Thousands of children in Ohio continue to attend school in aging and dilapidated facilities with almost no hope of improved conditions as the state continues to deny financial assistance for at least $300 million in building and repair projects.

 

An Akron Beacon Journal analysis has found 27 school districts where projects have been shelved or placed on hold, in some cases for years, because the Ohio School Facilities Commission cannot provide state aid until local voters ante up a percentage of the full cost.

 

The total price tag for the projects is not known because the prospect of local support is so bleak that in more than half the districts the facilities commission has not even asked the schools for a master plan for repairs and new construction.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17118455.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

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From the 4/21/07 PD:

 

Medina County officials want sales tax for schools

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Terry Oblander

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Medina - The next time a Medina County resident buys a $20,000 car he might be contributing 67 bricks for a new school.  Voters will decide May 8 on a 0.5 percent sales tax that would generate $10 million a year or more over the next 30 years for major school expenditures.  The new tax on a $20,000 car would be $100 enough to buy 67 bricks at $1.50 each.

 

Medina officials hope to win votes from among the homeowners who are tired of seeing their property taxes soar.  If the tax passes, Medina will become the first county in Ohio to designate sales tax money for permanent school improvements - mainly big-ticket purchases like new schools, buses and computer equipment.

 

In the first attempt in Ohio to win approval for a school sales tax, Summit County voters rejected a 0.5 percent proposal in 2002.  Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic accused suburban voters of being unwilling to help a big city school system.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/medina/1177145286204160.xml&coll=2