From the 4/23/07 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

VALLEY VIEW LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

District may be first in area to endorse proposed school funding amendment.

Only about 50 public school systems have endorsed the proposed amendment.

By Megan Gildow

Staff Writer

Monday, April 23, 2007

 

GERMANTOWN — Valley View Local Schools may be the first district in the area to support an amendment campaign to change the way schools are funded.  Board members are expected to vote tonight on a resolution in support of the Getting It Right! for Ohio's Future amendment proposal, currently in the petition phase, to be placed on the November ballot.

 

Getting It Right! for Ohio's Future addresses the state's school funding system, which as four times been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.  The amendment proposes shifting the burden of funding schools from local property owners to the state, according to the committee driving the amendment.

 

The amendment proposal, "gives the power to Ohio's voters to put a permanent, comprehensive solution in the state constitution that will finally fix our broken school funding system," said campaign spokesman Jim Betts in a news release.  If approved, it would not begin to take effect until 2012 and would be fully implemented by 2017.

 

MORE: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/23/mj042307vvboe.html

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From the 4/23/07 Lima News:

 

Schools working to get proposed amendment on ballot

Beth L. Jokinen | [email protected] - 04.23.2007

 

LIMA — Lima schools teachers are carrying more than books and papers to grade with them these days.  They are also armed with petitions.

 

Their union’s assignment is to each gather at least five signatures in support of a proposed constitutional amendment they hope will fix school funding in Ohio.  “I would hope that every teacher in the state would get behind this because if you work in education you know that we have not been adequately funded for years,” said Lori Ruschau-Will, president of the Lima Education Association.

 

If everyone comes through, the Lima teachers should collect close to 2,400 signatures to go toward the 402,276 needed to get the amendment on the November ballot.  The deadline to gather signatures is Aug. 8.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=37668

 

From the 4/24/07 Times-Reporter:

 

IV board supports school funding amendment

By KYLE KONDIK, T-R Staff Writer

 

PORT WASHINGTON – The Indian Valley Board of Education voted Monday night to support an Ohio constitutional amendment designed to change the way the state funds its schools.

 

Supporters of the amendment, dubbed “Getting it Right! for Ohio’s Future,” are trying to gather enough signatures to put the amendment on the November ballot. If passed, it would establish that a “high quality education is a fundamental right for every Ohio child,” according to a campaign Web site, www.rightforohio.org.

 

Amendment supporters say the amendment would reduce local property taxes and change a school funding system that the state Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional four times. Critics say the amendment is vague and could be pricey for state taxpayers.

 

MORE: http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=66953&r=8&Category=5

 

From the 4/25/07 Salem News:

 

Lisbon school board support school funds ballot initiative

By ELIZABETH TABAK

Salem News staff writer

 

LISBON — The Lisbon Board of Education has put into writing its support of the “Getting it Right for Ohio’s Future” campaign.  The board approved the resolution stating their support for and interest in obtaining signatures to put the initiative on the ballot this November at a special meeting Tuesday night. 

 

Superintendent Don Thompson said 400,000 signatures are needed to get the initiative on the ballot, and he encourages Lisbon residents to support such an amendment.  The “Getting it Right” amendment pledges to straighten out Ohio’s public school funding system, which has been declared unconstitutional four times since 1991.

 

It lists five steps the amendment will take toward creating a new funding system: guaranteeing accountability with public reports, identifying the cost of quality education, and require the state to pay a higher portion of the bill, reduce the number of new local property tax levies, cut property taxes for senior and disabled homeowners and protect state funding for school facilities, local safety and services and colleges and universities.

 

MORE: http://www.salemnews.net/news/articles.asp?articleID=5765

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From Hilliard Northwest News, 4/25/07:

 

Constitutional amendment

Sign those petitions, board says

By ROSEMARY KUBERA

 

The Hilliard Board of Education is encouraging registered voters to sign petitions that will enable a proposed school-funding amendment to the Ohio Constitution to be placed on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.  The board Monday unanimously passed a resolution of support for both placing the issue on the ballot and for passage of the amendment.

 

If adopted, backers say, the amendment would force the state to find funds for schools and reduce the current reliance on property taxes.  It would create a reliable source of school district funding, said district Treasurer Brian Wilson.

 

The Hilliard City School District has not had an increase in annual state aid since 2005 despite enrollment growth of about 1,000 students since then, said Wilson.

 

MORE: http://www.snponline.com/NEWS4-25/4-25_hlstateaid.html

 

From the 4/26/07 PD:

 

Urban school chiefs lobby on charter proposals

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Columbus - Leaders of Ohio's eight big-city school districts are lobbying lawmakers this week to support Gov. Ted Strickland's proposal to ban for-profit charter schools and ax a statewide school-voucher program.

 

"We strongly support his position that for-profit entities not operate in our state," said Cleveland schools CEO Eugene Sanders, co-chairman of the Ohio 8, a coalition of superintendents and teachers union presidents from the state's largest districts.  "We think those funds can more appropriately be used in a public school context."

 

The door-to-door canvassing of legislators, which will peak today, represents the most visible foray into politics for the 5-year-old organization.  The group is made up of urban districts that account for more than 250,000 of the state's 1.8 million public school students.

 

MORE: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/117757691374050.xml&coll=2

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From the 4/26/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

 

Coalition wants the state to pick up bulk of the costs

Amendment backers need more than 400,000 voter signatures to get on the ballot.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

 

YOUNGSTOWN — A coalition of education groups calling for an Ohio constitutional amendment to revamp school funding says it wants to return to the days when the state picked up about two-thirds of the cost of education.

 

There was a time when the state's share was at 63 percent, but that has shifted over the years until local property taxes are now covering 65 percent of school district budgets, said Charles Swindler, superintendent of the Western Reserve school district and a coalition member.

 

Shifting that burden back to the state is one of the goals of the proposed amendment, said Jim Betts, spokesman for Campaign for Ohio's Future which is pushing the issue.  The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled four times that Ohio's current method of funding schools is unconstitutional because it doesn't provide for a thorough and efficient education for all pupils in the state.

 

MORE: http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/316722950915448.php

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From the 4/26/07 Lima News:

 

School funding spokesman rallies local support

Beth L. Jokinen | [email protected] - 04.26.2007

 

LIMA — There’s a reason people keep asking where the money for a proposed constitutional amendment on school funding will come from.  “Everyone who asks the question where’s the money coming from is acknowledging that we’re underfunding schools,” amendment spokesman Jim Betts said Wednesday before talking with about 35 local school officials and residents.

 

Betts, executive director of the Alliance for Adequate School Funding, is one of the authors of the proposed amendment that proponents say will fix the longtime school funding problem in Ohio.  The grassroots effort involves 12 state-wide organizations.

 

The Getting It Right For Ohio’s Future campaign is trying to collect 402,276 needed signatures to get the amendment on the November ballot.  The deadline to gather signatures is Aug. 8. School districts have been asked to collect a signature per pupil. Betts said there are 170,000 petitions in circulation around the state.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=37801

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From the 4/26/07 Middletown Journal:

 

Valley View board endorses amendment

By Megan Gildow

Staff Writer

Thursday, April 26, 2007

 

GERMANTOWN — Valley View board members approved a resolution Monday night to support a proposed amendment to change school funding in Ohio.

 

Along with the Preble County Educational Services Center, Valley View Local Schools is one of the first public school systems in the area to endorse the Getting It Right! For Ohio's Future campaign.  If approved by voters, the amendment, which is in the petition phase, would guarantee the right to a high-quality education for every child, according to rightforohio.org, the campaign committee's Web site.

 

MORE: http://www.middletownjournal.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/26/mj042607ednotebook.html

 

From the 4/27/07 Lima News:

 

McGinnis says no to school funding amendment

Beth L. Jokinen | [email protected] - 04.27.2007

 

LIMA — The Lima school board voted Thursday to support a proposed constitutional amendment that proponents believe will solve school-funding issues.  But, as is this case most times taxes are discussed, there was one dissenter.

 

Bobbie McGinnis voted against supporting the Getting It Right For Ohio’s Future campaign, which is working to get the amendment on the ballot next fall.  McGinnis voiced concern about the wording of the resolution, specifically that it refers to the “full support” of the board.  She argued that, since the vote was not unanimous, it is not the full support.

 

Board President Alicia Anderson said the wording would not be changed, as a 3-1 vote is still the board’s full support.  Board member C. Ann Miles was not at Thursday’s meeting.  “Your vote is one vote,” Anderson said.  “But if there is still three other votes, that is full support.”

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=37827

 

From the 4/27/07 Enquirer:

 

Rally backs school choice, vouchers

BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | [email protected]

 

ROSELAWN – Students at Harmony Community School rallied with state Rep. Tom Brinkman Friday afternoon on behalf of school choice, as some Ohio lawmakers in Columbus sought to preserve charter schools and educational vouchers.

 

Several hundred students at Harmony cut short their Earth Day festival to listen to speakers tell them how to lobby to keep charter schools and vouchers alive in Ohio.  Charter schools are run by private boards and receive public funds from the state, funneled through public school districts.  Ohio’s EdChoice vouchers are publicly funded tuition payments to private schools for students who would otherwise attend low-performing public schools.

 

Under Gov. Ted Strickland’s recent budget plan, vouchers would be eliminated for the next school year, and charters would face more restrictions in funding and operation.  No new charters could open until 2009, and for-profit management companies would be forbidden from operating them.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/NEWS01/304270027/1056/COL02

 

From the 4/29/07 Dispatch:

 

GOP, Strickland joust over solution to school funding

Sunday,  April 29, 2007 7:33 AM

By Catherine Candisky and Mark Niquette

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Majority Republicans in the House have pledged to implement "Gov. Ted Strickland's School Funding Solution."  The governor says he's amused when he reads a comment like that from the House budget briefing document released last week.  It depicts Strickland's education budget as his plan to fix school funding, when he has made it clear he is still developing that plan.

 

"Let's just put it this way: The name of our softball team out of the governor's office is SB1," Strickland said. "Some people think that stands for 'Softball 1."  Actually, it refers to the House and Senate leaders' announcement earlier this year that they were reserving House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 for Strickland's school-funding plan.  "They can enjoy themselves, and I'll try to accept it in good humor," Strickland said.

 

The Democratic governor repeatedly has said his two-year state budget proposal includes only a first step toward fixing Ohio's school-funding system and is not the education reform he pledged during his campaign for governor last year.  But House Republicans don't see it that way.  From their perspective, the governor's budget plan is a ringing endorsement of the school-funding formula they implemented two years ago.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/29/edbud.ART_ART_04-29-07_B1_Q16HI5E.html

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From the 4/29/07 Enquirer:

 

School spending foes mobilize

Conservatives look to add board seats

BY MICHAEL D. CLARK | [email protected]

 

Two years ago, an active, yet loosely-organized group of public school spending critics gained their first few seats on local school boards.  This year, they hope to gain much more power.

 

Self-proclaimed "fiscal conservatives" already hold single seats in Fairfield, Mason, Little Miami, Northwest and Monroe schools.  This fall, anti-tax activists plan to support entire slates of candidates in hopes of capturing majorities in some districts and gaining new footholds in others.

 

As many as three more activists hope to join Fairfield's school board, where member Arnie Engel, elected in 2005, has emerged as one of the region's most outspoken critics of public school spending.  A two-member anti-tax slate is running in Milford.  Multiple candidates also are expected in Mason, although none has filed yet.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070429/NEWS0102/704290338/

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From the 4/29/07 DDN:

 

* GRAPHIC: Dayton and Lakota Public Schools' "core" budgets

* GRAPHIC: Administrators

 

Dayton's poverty rate means more spent for special programs

Lakota is about the same size, but spends $23.5 million less on special ed than Dayton, where 1 in 5 receive aid.

By Scott Elliott

Staff Writer

Sunday, April 29, 2007

 

For one private duty nurse at Gorman Elementary School, the school day begins not at the schoolhouse door but at her student's home, where she dresses and feeds a severely handicapped child. Then she rides the bus with him to school.

 

The student's class has a teacher and two teaching aides for six students, in addition to the private nurse and two school nurses on duty. All of this, by law, is paid by Dayton Public Schools. For more several severely handicapped students, Dayton spends more than $50,000 a year.

 

Half an hour down the Interstate 75 toward Cincinnati, Lakota is a sprawling school district in a fast-growing suburb that last year passed Dayton to become the seventh-largest school district in Ohio. But although Lakota is similar in size to Dayton, its students — and the district's responsibilities because of them — are completely different.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/04/28/ddn042907dpslakota.html

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From the 4/29/07 ABJ:

 

Education fund flaws ignored

By Dennis Willard

 

COLUMBUS - To look at the homes hugging the Portage Lakes shoreline, one would think the Coventry school district is awash in local property tax dollars.

 

And according to the way the state -- meaning the Ohio School Facilities Commission -- ranks districts, Coventry is one of the wealthiest.

 

So wealthy, in fact, that Coventry is not eligible for school facility money until 2012, and then the state's contribution to the district's building needs would be 20 percent.

 

Coventry, according to the state, needs to replace four of the six buildings in the district at a cost of $54 million, which means the local taxpayers there would be responsible for $43.2 million, or 80 percent.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17152935.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

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From the 4/29/07 Cuyahoga Falls News-Press:

 

Woodridge Board backs placing funding issue on ballot

by Phil Keren

Editor

 

Peninsula -- The Woodridge Board of Education threw its support behind an effort to fix the state's funding of public schools.  The Board on April 23 voted 4-1 in favor of a resolution backing the placement of a proposed state constitutional amendment on the November ballot.  Board member Cheryl Hoover cast the dissenting vote.

 

The amendment is being proposed by Getting It Right For Ohio's Future and would, according to the resolution:

 

* provide every child a high-quality education by declaring education as a fundamental right;

* reduce the frequency of local school tax levy requests and provide immediate property tax relief for senior citizens and disabled citizens;

* protect state funding for school facilities, local government and higher education; and

* assure a steady, fair funding mechanism for the public schools.

 

MORE: http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/1920601

 

From the 5/1/07 Enquirer:

 

Schools may outgrow funding

Mason, Lakota say aid in state plan static as enrollment booms

BY MICHAEL D. CLARK | [email protected]

 

MASON - Two of Greater Cincinnati's biggest school systems are among a half-dozen fast-growing districts statewide that claim they would be shortchanged by the latest budget proposal for Ohio schools.

 

Mason and Lakota officials say they stand to lose millions because the state education budget plan being discussed by lawmakers does not include money to cover the nearly 1,000 new students, combined, that the two districts enroll each year.

 

Booming districts like theirs - and a handful of others among Ohio's 613 school systems - are being penalized for being rated "excellent" and attracting more and more students, they say, while most districts with stable or declining enrollments are earmarked for more state funding.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070501/NEWS0102/705010400/

 

The Mansfield News Journal had a nice list of EdChoice applications by district:

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/assets/pdf/B77181252.PDF

 

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From the 5/3/07 Dispatch:

 

Choosing private schools

1,410 apply for vouchers in Columbus

Thursday,  May 3, 2007 4:05 AM

By Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

For those keeping score, this is the tally: More than 8,500 Columbus children have chosen charter schools.  The first year of the statewide voucher program took a smaller bite: About 650 students used the EdChoice program to attend private schools instead of district ones.

 

But that number could grow dramatically in the coming school year in Columbus, the district with the most voucher-eligible schools in the state.  Columbus Public Schools students filed 1,410 applications this spring to use private-school vouchers, twice as many as they did last year.

 

Statewide, the numbers more than doubled, too.  Nearly 8,000 voucher applications were filed by the deadline, compared with 3,667 for the current school year.  The state Department of Education released the numbers yesterday.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/03/EdChoice.ART_ART_05-03-07_A1_3D6ITIT.html

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School voucher information

Thursday,  May 3, 2007 4:05 AM

 

What they are

• Vouchers allow students to attend a private school using public money for tuition. This school year was the first that students statewide could use the vouchers through a program called EdChoice; Cleveland has had its own program since 1995. Most of the participating private schools are parochial.

 

How they work

• A student applies to the private school they hope to attend. If the school accepts the student -- using its normal admission criteria -- it applies to the state for a voucher on the student's behalf.

 

Who can get them

• Up to 14,000 students linked to public schools that have been in academic emergency or academic watch for three consecutive years are eligible. In central Ohio, students are eligible at some Columbus, Groveport Madison and South-Western schools. The application deadline for next school year has passed.

 

What they're worth

• High-school students can get up to $5,000. Younger students can use up to $4,250.

 

Source: Ohio Department of Education

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/03/EdChoice_box.ART_ART_05-03-07_A4_3D6IV05.html

 

From the AP, 5/6/07:

 

Republican plan would pay more to 'A' schools

Medina representative comes up with proposal to reward achievement

Associated Press

 

COLUMBUS - Majority Republicans in the Ohio House want to give thousands of dollars more to school districts that earn an "A'' on their report cards.

 

The proposal would cost the state about $6 million extra for schools, but it's important that the state set the precedent, said Rep. William Batchelder, R-Medina.

 

The extra funding averages $30,000 for each of the 192 districts rated as excellent by the Ohio Department of Education.  That's $10 extra per student.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17187401.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

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From the 5/6/07 DDN:

 

Officials say House action cost urban districts millions

Lawmakers blocked a settlement over enrollment and funding with the state Education Department.

By Scott Elliott

Staff Writer

Sunday, May 06, 2007

 

DAYTON — — State lawmakers were close to wrapping up debate last May over House Bill 530 when Dayton school leaders learned it might cost them millions.  Then-school board president Gail Littlejohn grabbed her phone and dialed state Sen. Jeff Jacobson's cell number.  "What is going on here?" she demanded.

 

Just a few weeks earlier, Dayton, Cincinnati and other urban districts had cut a deal to resolve a dispute over charter school enrollment — a settlement with the Ohio Department of Education that would compensate those districts for overcharges on charter school enrollments.

 

But lawmakers didn't like the deal.  They were frustrated with what they viewed as frequent revisions to the education department's enrollment numbers — revisions that meant millions more each year in money for education.  And they were uncomfortable with the terms of the settlement, which had the state offering to raise school district enrollment counts by about half the disputed number of students.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/05/ddn050607charterA1.html

 

From the 5/8/07 Dispatch:

 

LIMITED DATA

For-profit charters can hide finances

Governor wants to end companies' education business

Tuesday,  May 8, 2007 3:31 AM

By Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Most say they're not turning a huge profit from the millions in state and federal funds they manage, but they hope to see solid returns someday.  These companies don't have to tell the state how much money they make, although those that charge more than 20 percent in management fees must tell the state auditor something about how much they put back into the schools.  The state doesn't track how many schools use management companies. 

 

The lack of data is one reason that Gov. Ted Strickland says he wants to outlaw for-profit education companies.  "The legitimate goal of a for-profit company is to look out for the financial interests of their investors," he said in an interview last month.  "I believe many of those schools are not producing results that are results we would hope for."

 

There's little research on whether schools with for-profit or nonprofit management companies do better or worse than those without outside operators.  Legislators are debating the issue now.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/08/forprofit.ART_ART_05-08-07_A1_KR6KE2J.html

 

From the 5/9/07 ABJ:

 

 

Medina voters OK sales tax for schools

By Katie Byard

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Voters in Medina County made history Tuesday by approving a half-cent sales tax that will generate money for permanent improvements in all seven of the county's school districts.

 

"It was the right time among the voters,'' said Medina County Commissioner Steve Hambley, a co-chair of the campaign for the countywide tax. "The message is they want a different form of tax to support the schools.''

 

http://www.snponline.com/NEWS5-9/5-9_colcpsamend.html

 

From the 5/10/07 Canton Repository:

 

 

Voters: Fix school funding

By MELISSA GRIFFY SEETON

REPOSITORY EDUCATION WRITER

 

Voters across the state spoke volumes when they cast "no" votes on issues asking for new money for schools.

 

Many in Stark County said they are sending a message to Columbus: Fix school funding.

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17204839.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

 

From the 5/13/07 PD:

 

 

Sales tax for schools is difficult idea to sell

Medina County lead will be hard to follow

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Terry Oblander

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Medina County voters may have started a movement to do what the state legislature has not - shift the burden for big-ticket items for schools away from the property tax.

 

Voters made Medina the first Ohio county to use sales tax money for education. A new 0.5 percent sales tax will raise about $9.4 million a year for new schools and buses. The tax proceeds will be distributed to the districts on a per-student basis.

 

Property taxes in at least one district will tumble almost immediately. Brunswick school superintendent James Hayas said his district would keep its pre-election promise and will vote on May 21 to kill a property tax that costs homeowners $44.41 per $100,000 of property value.

 

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/1994281

 

From the 5/15/07 Ashland Times-Gazette:

 

 

Loudonville-Perrysville School Board: Board supports school funding amendment

By JIM BREWER

T-G Staff Writer

 

LOUDONVILLE -- Loudonville-Perrysville Board of Education approved a resolution of support Monday for the "Getting It Right! for Ohio's Future" constitutional amendment.

 

"We have to keep the school funding issue before the public, and I feel this statewide effort is a way to do that plus increase attention on it to our legislators," board president Jeff Cooper said.

 

"Hopefully, through this, we can get more help from the state," member Steve Kick added.

 

Earlier in the meeting, school treasurer Marie Beddow, while making her five-year financial forecast, said the board probably would have to seek additional support from voters by 2009. Kick said "if the constitutional amendment is approved, it may lessen what we have to ask our local voters to approve."

 

...

 

http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/2001302

 

From the 5/18/07 Defiance Crescent-News:

 

 

Education funding issue gains momentum

Petitions being circulated in six-county area

By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news

 

A proposed constitutional amendment which would establish a new process for determining how to fund Ohio's public schools appears to be gaining momentum around the area.

 

"If the legislature can fund it, I think it has promise," said Defiance City Schools superintendent Mike Struble, whose board of education will discuss the issue at Monday's meeting. "At the very least it needs to get on the November ballot so people can discuss and debate it."

 

The proposed amendment is supported by 12 education advocate organizations including the Ohio Parent Teacher Association, Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, Ohio Education Association and Ohio School Boards Association.

 

http://www.crescent-news.com/news/article/2020721

 

From the 5/20/07 Middletown Journal:

 

 

School funding could change

Amendments, expanded exemptions and tax freezes for seniors on the minds of lawmakers.

By Megan Gildow

Staff Writer

Sunday, May 20, 2007

 

MIDDLETOWN — Property owners who "can't get no satisfaction" with Ohio's school funding system may have reason to sing with a proposed amendment that would alleviate the burden of funding schools from local homeowners and provide some relief for senior citizens and others on fixed incomes.

 

Middletown voters rejected a proposed tax levy May 8 that would increase taxes $120 for the owner of a $100,000 home — and many residents have said that the increase would be too much for those on a fixed income, such as retirees or people with disabilities.

 

In addition to the Getting it Right! for Ohio's Future amendment, two other proposals to relieve the burden of property taxes for those on fixed incomes are on the horizon.

 

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/19/mj052007taxrelief.html

 

From the 5/22/07 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Lakota looks to lobby for state funds

By Lindsey Hilty

Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

 

LIBERTY TWP. — State legislators have been getting waves of post cards, e-mails and phone calls from Lakota parents, teachers and administrators about school funding.

 

On Monday night, Lakota Local School District board members asked residents to go a step further.

 

Whether by bus or caravan, May 29 more than a dozen concerned residents and officials will travel to Columbus to lobby legislators during school funding hearings.

 

...

 

http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/21/hjn052207lakboe.html

 

From ThisWeek New Albany, 5/24/07:

 

 

District backs school-funding constitutional amendment

Thursday, May 24, 2007

By LORI WINCE

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The New Albany-Plain Local Board of Education agreed Monday to support a constitutional amendment for the Nov. 6 ballot that would change the way Ohio schools are funded.

 

"This is our official kickoff of our petition effort to gather signatures to get this amendment on the ballot Nov. 6," said Debbie Klug, a member of New Albany-Plain Local's legislative committee. 

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/052407/Worthington/News/052407-News-361574.html

 

From the 5/25/07 PD:

 

 

Charter-school limits ignite passions

Rival demonstrations praise, pan Strickland

Friday, May 25, 2007

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Friends and foes of charter schools took to the streets Thursday as part of an escalating battle for state education dollars.

 

Hundreds of charter-school students, parents, teachers and administrators gathered at Citizens' Academy near University Circle to voice loud support for a budget bill approved by the Ohio House this month that rejected a proposed moratorium on new charters. The bill is now in the Ohio Senate.

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/25/ddn052507fordham.html

 

From the 5/26/07 Middletown Journal:

 

 

Board endorses school funding amendment

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer

Saturday, May 26, 2007

 

CARLISLE — The Board of Education Monday formally endorsed an amendment to the Ohio Constitution concerning the funding of public education.

 

The board voted 4-0 to approve the endorsement with Allen abstaining because of the bill's language that conflicts with his position as Carlisle's member of the Miami Valley Career Technology Center board, according to Carlisle Superintendent Tim McLinden.

 

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/26/mj052607carlisleboard.html

 

From the 5/27/07 DDN:

 

 

Parents urged to add voices to school funding debate

By John Nolan

Staff Writer

Sunday, May 27, 2007

 

DAYTON — — It is time for parents to get involved in seeing that society provides adequate funding for public education so that it can produce tomorrow's productive citizens, city school employees and elected officials said Saturday during a rally at Welcome Stadium.

 

"It's time to get mad — mad for public education, mad for our children," state Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, told the pro-public education rally. Luckie is a former member of the Dayton school board.

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/27/ddn052707schoolrally.html

 

From the 5/28/07 PD:

 

 

Ohio school reformers say Maryland is a model

Monday, May 28, 2007

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Takoma Park, Md. -- Helen Smith, the principal of Carole Highlands Elementary School, has plenty of worries.

 

Most of her 587 students come from working-class immigrant families representing 45 nations. One-third have limited English skills. Students come and go from the school with alarming frequency. Many live in poverty.

 

But one thing Smith doesn't have to worry about is money.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/28/amend.ART_ART_05-28-07_A1_EU6RHB8.html?type=rss&cat=21

 

Both from the 5/30/07 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

School group lobbies for state funding

Parents and school officials from Lakota and Mason addressed funding inequities at budget hearings.

By Lindsey Hilty

Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

 

COLUMBUS — More than 50 parents, school board members and administrators from Lakota and Mason attended budget hearings at the Statehouse Tuesday, sporting bright yellow T-shirts that stated, "Fund Every Student."

 

The local group traveled by bus to lobby for an amendment to House Bill 119. The bill is Gov. Ted Strickland's biennial budget, and area residents were lobbying for changes on the proposed funding for state education.

 

http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/29/hjn053007stricklandbudget.html

 

From the 6/2/07 Hamilton JournalNews:

 

 

Butler County schools investigate county sales tax for education funds

Board members hope county a sales tax similar to the one passed in Medina may help school funding issues.

By Lindsey Hilty

Staff Writer

Saturday, June 02, 2007

 

FAIRFIELD TWP. — Medina County made history in early May by passing Ohio's first county sales tax to support permanent improvement for schools.

 

A Fairfield City school board member said Butler County should follow suit.

 

"I think it's a tremendous idea," said Arnold Engel. "I can't fathom any board of education that would be against this."

 

http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/02/hjn060707salestax.html

 

Both from the 6/3/07 Canton Repository:

 

 

Medina sales tax to fund schools

By MELISSA GRIFFY SEETON

REPOSITORY EDUCATION WRITER

 

MEDINA The development isn't hard to miss coming into Medina. It's a place where people want to be.

 

Big homes. Even bigger development. Plopped on acres of land stretching down a rural, twisty Route 57 where miles of farmland used to be.

 

Some of the highest tax brackets in the state occupy this bedroom community, where schools are becoming increasingly overcrowded. The only option for the schools to keep up, some said, was to think of another option.

 

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=9&ID=358015&r=2&subCategoryID=

 

From the 6/4/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Schools funded without levies

Earned income tax, inside millage avoid voters

BY CINDY KRANZ | [email protected]

 

As school levies and bond issues increasingly get hammered at the polls in an anti-tax climate, taxpayers are likely to see more school districts resorting to other methods to raise money.

 

More districts locally and statewide are testing the popularity with voters of an earned income tax or moving inside millage without voter approval.

 

And local school districts are surely taking note of what happened last month in Medina County near Cleveland. Voters there approved Ohio's first countywide sales tax that is earmarked for schools.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070604/NEWS0102/706040370/

 

From the 6/5/07 Dispatch:

 

 

School-funding plan may wait

Backers consider '08 ballot for state amendment

Tuesday,  June 5, 2007 3:32 AM

By Catherine Candisky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A constitutional amendment promising to fix Ohio's school-funding system might not be on the November ballot as planned.

 

Two months before the filing deadline, the education groups pushing the proposal will meet this week to assess the status of their petition drive and fundraising efforts.

 

Publicly, backers say the plan to put the issue before Ohio voters this fall is unchanged. But privately, many say they might need to wait until November 2008 to give the campaign more time to collect signatures, raise campaign money and build support.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/05/ballot05.ART_ART_06-05-07_B1_GS6U04A.html?type=rss&cat=21

 

SCHOOL-FUNDING AMENDMENT

 

Education groups to pursue fall vote

State funding jumps 50 percent under proposal, analysis shows

Friday,  June 8, 2007 3:38 AM

By Catherine Candisky

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Education groups pushing a constitutional amendment aimed at changing Ohio's school-funding system want the proposal on the ballot this November, not a year later.

 

Projections from the Ohio Department of Education obtained by The Dispatch show the proposal, if approved by voters, would boost total state aid to public schools by 50 percent over the next nine years. That's an increase of $3.2 billion.

 

Some supporters have said that they might need to wait until the November 2008 presidential election to have more time to collect signatures, raise campaign money and build support.

 

http://dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/08/edplan.ART_ART_06-08-07_A1_FN6UVEU.html

From the 6/9/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Expanding schools send SOS

Mason, others hurt by lack of funding for new students

BY CINDY KRANZ | [email protected]

 

School staffs and parents are lobbying legislators to amend the state budget to provide more money for high-growth school districts.

 

District officials and residents from Lakota, Lebanon, Loveland, Mason and Milford have testified before the Senate Finance Committee and engaged in letter-writing campaigns to legislators. The high-growth districts are among 40 statewide that would receive no additional money for the next two years in the governor's proposed two-year budget.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070609/NEWS0102/706090402/

 

From the 6/10/07 PD:

 

 

School financing plan has support

Amendment favored in statewide survey

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

The legislature doesn't like it.

 

The governor is cool to it.

 

But regular Ohio residents strongly favor a constitutional amendment that would radically change the way the state pays for its public education system, according to a poll.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/11814646277310.xml&coll=2

---

From the 6/10/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

 

 

Voucher loophole triggers distress

Officials say the program will cost the Liberty school district money.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

 

LIBERTY — E.J. Blott Elementary School has been a part of the state's Educational Choice school voucher program for one year, and school officials say some parents have found a loophole in the program — a loophole that could cost the district thousands of dollars.

 

Under the voucher program, the state will provide a $4,250 tuition voucher (or the actual tuition charged, whichever is lower) to the private school for each pupil enrolled under the program in kindergarten through the eighth grade. The voucher is $5,000 (or actual tuition, if it is lower) for grades nine through 12.

 

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/319063075000835.php

 

From the 6/13/07 Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune:

 

 

Lakota board looks to back state issue

By Suzanne Herman, Correspondent

 

RISINGSUN — Lakota Board of Education members discussed Monday a petition to put an amendment on the Ohio ballot on how public schools are funded.

 

Board members were urged to collect as many signatures as possible between July and August in order to ensure a goal of 1,220 signatures is reached.

 

“Between 8-10 percent of signatures are usually disqualified due to people not being registered voters, etc., so let’s just get as many as we can,” board member Fred Keith said. “We need this petition to help get schools funded more constitutionally.”

 

...

 

http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/articles.asp?articleID=8677

 

Link contains a photo.  From the AP, 6/18/07:

 

 

Do facilities improve learning?

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

Associated Press Writer

 

CORNING - Court rulings against the state's school funding system led Ohio to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to replace or repair schools. The connection to better grades is not so clear.

 

Despite 10 years of construction spending, the state has no way to measure the impact on grades of one of the country's biggest school-construction projects.

 

"We'll be happy to join in if someone comes up with that magic tool," said Mike Shoemaker, the newly appointed head of the state's School Facilities Commission. "But I don't know who's going to invent the tool." 

 

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS01/706180301/1002/rss01

 

From the 6/21/07 Dispatch:

 

 

BUDGET DELIBERATIONS

Pressure's on Strickland to allow special vouchers

Thursday,  June 21, 2007 7:39 AM

By Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Daniel Symons sat down with Gov. Ted Strickland two weeks ago, telling him how he and his parents were failed by a public-school system that seemed unprepared to deal with his dyslexia.

 

The 19-year-old said his first-grade teacher told him he would never be an independent adult or read above a fourth-grade level. He was placed in rooms with mentally handicapped students.

 

But starting in the seventh grade, Symons transferred to Lawrence School, a private northeastern Ohio institution that focuses on students with learning disabilities. He said the difference was tremendous, and today he is pursuing an information systems degree at Notre Dame College near Cleveland.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/21/specialvoucher.ART_ART_06-21-07_B4_Q472STL.html?type=rss&cat=21

 

From the 6/25/07 DDN:

 

 

Struggling districts on fast track for state construction funding

By Scott Elliott and Christopher Magan

Staff Writers

Monday, June 25, 2007

 

JEFFERSON TWP., Montgomery County — A plan to fast track school construction funding through the Ohio School Facilities Commission could bring a great opportunity for the financially struggling Jefferson Twp. Local School District.

 

Plagued by declining enrollment and aging buildings, the district has spent three years trying to climb out of a "fiscal watch" designation from the state.

 

"We haven't built a new building since 1962," said Treasurer David Robinson. "It would afford us better academic facilities to serve our students better."

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/25/ddn062507skulbuildinside.html

 

Link contains a photo.  From the 6/26/07 Blade:

 

 

GRAPHIC: Catholic school tuition

 

Tuition hike at parochial schools makes TPS leaders wary

By IGNAZIO MESSINA

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

Four Toledo Catholic elementary schools doubled their tuition over last year, putting the "cost of education" just under the maximum amount that the state will pay in taxpayer money for students coming from failing public schools.

 

The sharp increases have prompted the top Toledo Public Schools official to raise an eyebrow and ask if the Catholic schools are fleecing the system or price-gouging the state.

 

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS04/706260329/-1/NEWS

 

From the 6/26/07 Defiance Crescent-News:

 

 

Defiance school board backs proposed amendment

By JACK PALMER

[email protected]

 

A resolution to support a proposed constitutional amendment establishing a new process to fund Ohio's public schools was approved by a 3-1 vote Monday by the Defiance City Board of Education.

 

Discussion on the "Getting It Right for Ohio's Future" campaign followed a presentation to the board by Jennifer Economus, legislative liaison for Ohio School Boards Association.

 

http://www.thegatewaynews.com/news/article/2180921

 

From the 6/28/07 Enquirer:

 

 

Voucher program rests with Strickland

BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | [email protected]

 

One of the biggest questions in the state budget before Gov. Ted Strickland is whether he will use a line-item veto to reject a new voucher program for students with disabilities.

 

The voucher program would give students with learning-related disabilities up to $20,000 a year for public or private school tuition, depending on the disability. About 8,000 vouchers would become available in the 2008-09 school year, meaning the program could potentially transfer up to $160 million from public school coffers to private schools each year.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070628/NEWS0102/706280333/1058/NEWS01

 

Ohio school-funding plan nixed for November ballot

Monday,  July 2, 2007 2:37 PM

By Catherine Candisky

 

The Columbus Dispatch

A proposed constitutional amendment aimed at fixing Ohio's school-funding system will not appear on the November 2007 ballot as planned.

 

With less than a month to the filing deadline, the 12 education groups backing the proposal announced this afternoon that they have collected fewer than half of the required signatures needed for the issue to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

 

The Campaign for Ohio's Future had until Aug. 8 to submit valid signatures of 402,276 registered voters. They collected about 150,000.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/02/TOLDU.html

From the 7/2/07 Martins Ferry Times Leader:

 

 

School funding practices disputed

By CASEY JUNKINS, For The Times Leader

 

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Ohio Sen. Joy Padgett believes the future of public school funding in the state has been appropriately addressed, but a former local school superintendent said the state continues to shortchange area schools.

 

According to a report recently released by the Ohio Department of Education, nearly all local Ohio school districts are expected to see increases in their state funding on a per pupil basis over the next two years. The only exception is the St. Clairsville-Richland City School District, which is expected to see a decline in state aid.

 

http://timesleaderonline.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=8228

 

From the 7/4/07 Lima News:

 

Local officials down about dropped amendment campaign

Beth L. Jokinen | [email protected] - 07.04.2007

 

LIMA — Local school officials are disappointed that an effort to get a school funding issue on the November ballot has been abandoned, but some say at least it had people talking about the problem.

 

“I don’t look at it as a defeat at all,” Superintendent Karel Oxley said. “This was one of the strongest conversations to happen in a long time.”

 

The Getting It Right for Ohio’s Future campaign officials announced Monday that it would not collect enough signatures by the Aug. 8 deadline to get the issue on the ballot. The initiative needed 402,276 signatures, but has collected fewer than 200,000.

 

http://www.marionstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/NEWS01/707040319/1002

 

From the 7/5/07 ABJ:

 

 

Governor to take up changes in school funding

Strickland, invited groups meet next week to discuss tackling his signature issue

By Dennis J. Willard

Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau

 

COLUMBUS - With his first two-year budget behind him, Gov. Ted Strickland is turning more of his attention to a campaign promise to fix the unconstitutional school funding formula.

 

Strickland will meet with representatives from 18 educational organizations from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to open the discussion on resolving an issue that has plagued Ohio for more than 15 years.

 

A dozen groups at the meeting are part of the Campaign for Ohio's Future, which announced Monday it will not collect enough signatures to go to the ballot in November to ask voters to amend the Ohio Constitution to address school funding.

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/17457517.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

 

From the 7/6/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

 

 

Official unfazed by halt of drive

The campaign intended to reform school funding in Ohio.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

 

YOUNGSTOWN — Shelley Murray sees the decision to halt a campaign to get a school-funding constitutional amendment on the November ballot as a temporary setback.

 

"It doesn't mean we're not going to pursue it again later," said Murray, a member of the Youngstown school board who spearheaded the local arm of the campaign to get the matter before the voters Nov. 6.

 

The ballot issue was designed to correct Ohio's unconstitutional school-funding system by gradually increasing the state share of public education. It would have made a high-quality public education the right of every child in the state.

 

http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/297380807407893.php

 

From the 7/12/07 Johnstown Independent:

 

 

School funding amendment won't appear on fall ballot

Thursday, July 12, 2007

MARLA K. KUHLMAN

Independent Staff Writer

 

An effort to fix school funding in Ohio has fizzled, lacking sufficient signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

 

The Campaign for Ohio's Future announced July 2 that its proposal wouldn't make it on the ballot because it had only collected 150,000 of 402,000 needed signatures on its petitions.

 

"I think it will be a crushing blow for school finance," said Tom Suriano, Johnstown-Monroe superintendent. "It gave us hope and, specifically, it was for education in K-12. This was to get us set up from when school funding was voted unconstitutional (in 1997). We were supposed to get fair funding and get the responsibility off the local taxpayers and shift it to the state."

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/071207/Johnstown/News/071207-News-383121.html

 

State board to ask $1B more for schools

The Associated Press • November 17, 2008

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081117/NEWS01/311170029

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state school board is working on a plan that would boost state aid to Ohio's public schools by an estimated $1 billion a year.

 

State Board of Education leaders also say school districts wouldn't have to rely so much on local tax revenue and wouldn't have to ask voters for tax levies quite so often. Board members aren't saying where the money would come from.

 

After a meeting in December, the State Board of Education is expected to formally recommend its proposal to Gov. Ted Strickland, who has made 2009 his deadline year for offering a fix for the way Ohio pays for public schools.

I felt this article deserved mentioning, and since there's not much in the way of an overall Ohio "education" thread, I thought I'd start with this article about my hometown. You know who I hope sees this? Those who perpetually lament that higher education isn't valued in areas with strong manufacturing histories:

 

From cleveland.com:

 

Tiny Salem, Ohio, has big college scholarship program

 

Posted by JKroll November 30, 2008 21:44PM

 

Cities across the country are scrambling to find ways to help students pay for a college education. The Promise program, launched in Kalamazoo, Mich., three years ago, and others modeled after it offer a guaranteed grant to graduates of the public schools. Akron's mayor pushed for a similar effort but failed to convince voters this month that the municipal sewer system should be leased to pay for it.

 

Meanwhile, the people of Salem, Ohio -- a city of about 12,000 halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh -- have done it their own way for the past 100 years. That's how long the Salem High School Alumni Association has given college scholarships to graduating seniors. A lot of scholarships.

 

More at cleveland.com

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/11/tiny_salem_ohio_has_big_colleg.html

.................

Even as someone who has less than fond memories of their high school years in Salem, I'm looking into developing an art/design scholarship as part of the annual alumni scholarships.

Good article.

 

Shows why education is important no matter you social or your financial status.

Ad campaign will try to sell Cleveland kids on education

 

Posted by JKroll December 01, 2008 05:48AM

 

For information about the PolicyBridge campaign, call 1-866-975-7297 or check policy-bridge.org/educationpays once the campaign begins Dec. 8.

 

Call them brainwashers or propagandists; they probably won't mind. Their mission is to use billboards and other advertising to indoctrinate inner-city youngsters with this message: "Education Pay$. Get Yours."

More at cleveland.com

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/ad_campaign_will_try_to_sell_c.html

............

 

""There was no real community-wide push that said education is important,""

 

I know it's a different world, and a different dynamic (well, not as different as some would like to think) but is it really necessary to spend $400,000 on billboards and a website for someone to understand that quite simply - poverty sucks?

 

Generations of kids grew up watching their parents follow all the rules only to get screwed by racism and by an increasingly hostile economy.  No marketing campaign will convince them to spend their youth jumping through hoops so they can eventually make $10/hour and have partial health coverage.  These kids are rational actors, and the cost-benefit ratio of school just doesn't look good to them.  They understand that a handful of their best and brightest may work their way out of the ghetto through legitimate means, but also that there aren't enough seats on the gravy train no matter how hard they try.  If the modern economy actually worked, education would sell itself.

^I wonder how many of the state's 19 fastest growing school districts are also located in areas of rampant suburban sprawl?

 

Cates sponsors bill to help growing school districts

Fast-growing districts are hurt by the state's school funding formula.

 

By Lindsey Hilty, Staff Writer

Thursday, December 04, 2008

 

MONROE — Area treasurers are waiting until January to know how much state budget cuts will affect their bottom lines, but Lakota and Monroe school district officials said because they are fast-growing districts, they already are struggling.

 

Both schools receive a guaranteed amount of funding each year no matter how many new students enter the districts. The funding formula works well for districts that are losing students or are remaining steady, but Lakota Treasurer Craig Jones said that leaves 1,300 Lakota students who aren't getting funding. For Lakota, that means two of its schools, which already are bigger than many in the area, are unfunded.

 

http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/12/04/mj120408cates.html