ERIC Number: ED612714
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Apr
Pages: 14
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
All in for Ohio Kids: Fully and Fairly Funding Ohio's Public Schools
Patton, Wendy
Policy Matters Ohio
Great public schools provide a foundation of opportunity for children, their families, communities and the entire state. All children, regardless of ZIP code, race or family income deserve to be educated in fully and fairly funded schools. Yet for many years Ohio lawmakers have provided neither sufficient nor fair distribution of state support. Even as policymakers have expected public schools to do more, they have cut state aid to public schools over time, by allowing it to be eroded by inflation and diversion of funds to charter schools (called "community schools" in Ohio law) and vouchers (scholarships to private schools). As a result, public schools have increasingly relied on local resources, which causes unequal funding and quality across districts. The new American Rescue Plan will provide $4.47 billion in federal pandemic aid to Ohio's schools, to meet the challenges resulting from COVID-19 and to rebuild for the future. Moreover, state lawmakers are working to replace the broken state school financing system. The Fair School Funding Plan, moving forward in the Ohio General Assembly as House Bill 1 and included in the Substitute House budget bill for 2022-23, would provide fair state aid, a measure of equity, and predictability across the hundreds of public school districts in the state. This report lays out some key faults in the state school funding system and describes how state lawmakers can go all in for Ohio kids and turn this bad situation around. [For the executive summary, see ED612715.]
Descriptors: Public Schools, Educational Equity (Finance), Educational Finance, Financial Support, State Aid, Resource Allocation, Federal Aid, Local Government, Educational Quality, Achievement Gap, School Districts, Private Schools, Charter Schools, Educational Vouchers, Budgets, Taxes, Costs, State Legislation, Funding Formulas, COVID-19, Pandemics, Elementary Secondary Education
Policy Matters Ohio. 3631 Perkins Avenue Suite 4C East, Cleveland, OH 44114. Tel: 216-361-9801; Fax: 216-361-9817; Web site: http://policymattersohio.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; George Gund Foundation; Saint Luke's Foundation; Ford Foundation
Authoring Institution: Policy Matters Ohio
Identifiers - Location: Ohio
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A