School funding changes included in Ohio House biennial budget proposal | News

Changes to Ohio’s school funding have been included in the Ohio House’s proposed version of the state’s biennial budget.

When Gov. Mike DeWine released his proposed biennial budget earlier this year, he deliberately chose not to include any changes to the school funding formula knowing that both the House and the Senate were “well along in the process of developing a new formula.”

Last year the Ohio legislature came the closest it has to overhauling the public school funding formula that the Ohio Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in a 4-3 vote in 1997. The court determined that the funding system violates the Ohio Constitution, “which mandates a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.”

A school funding overhaul bill passed the House late last year, but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote.

Reps. Jamie Callender, R-Concord Township, and Bride Rose Sweeney D-Cleveland, on Feb. 3 introduced the “Fair School Funding Plan,” which was largely similar to the previous bill. Their bill has been included in the House’s proposed budget.

The sponsors said in February the current formula counts students in their current districts, even though they may transfer out through open enrollment or attendance at community schools. The resident districts then must transfer that money to the student where those students are taught.

The sponsors said this practice creates significant tension between resident districts and those schools where the students have transferred.

They said the Fair Schools Funding Plan was crafted to address the actual cost of educating children “in today’s world and allocate those costs fairly between the state and local taxpayers.”

Their plan establishes a formula to calculate a realistic per pupil base cost amount for each district, which can be described as “the cost to educate a typical student who has no additional special needs in a typical district.”

They said the base cost is constructed using current Ohio cost data applied to: teacher/pupil ratios by grade level, plus art, music and physical education; substitute teachers and professional development; extra-curriculars, athletics, guidance, safety and security, social/emotional/life support, instructional technology, library and media operations, supplies and academic content; building leadership and operation; district leadership and accountability; and technology for students and staff.

Callender and Sweeney said their plan blends a district’s “unique property wealth with the income wealth of its constituents to arrive at a mix that more accurately equates the real capacity of the district. This properly frames a community’s ability to participate in this shared responsibility.”

They said that under the Fair School Funding Plan, changes in the capacity of one district “would no longer impact other districts by raising or lowering their local and state shares.”

Their plan also contains “additional categories of aid aimed at creating an equitable system of funding for our schools.” These include gifted education, special education, English Language Learners, economically disadvantaged, and transportation.

In the budget, the House is proposing a $1.8 billion increase in funds for public schools, which would be phased in over a six-year period beginning in the 2021-22 school year. No districts would lose funding during the transition to the new formula, according to lawmakers.

The House’s version of the state budget is expected to be voted on this week. Changes to the bill are expected before the final vote, a Ohio House Republican news release stated.