School districts around the state are receiving the good or bad news on whether they will see an increase or a decrease in state funding.Overall, the new budget proposed by Governor Kasich promises a 700 million dollar increase in education funding for K-12 schools. But it’s complicated.[audio href=http://audio2.ideastream.org/wcpn/2015/budget1.mp3" title="Listen to the Radio Story"][/audio]First of all, the budget gives with one hand and takes with another. That 700 million dollars turns out to really be 550 million because the Kasich administration is phasing out payments that some districts used to get from tangible personal property taxes or electric generation plants.Out of Ohio 613 school districts, 323, or about half will see funding drop. In general, the poor districts will get the increases. The budget director for the Ohio Department of Education, Aaron Rausch, says the new funding formula will consider property values and average income of school districts. That means Cleveland schools will see an increase.“In this proposal we would compare a district’s income to a statewide median," he explained. "So, Cleveland would get an additional adjustment downward to reflect their low capacity of not only the property in the district but the income of the residents to pay property taxes and to generate resources venue on their own.”Rausch said state funding for school transportation will drop for all but the poor districts.
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