It's a new approach to getting at an old problem: how to ensure that all Ohio children are afforded a thorough and adequate education. The proposal to amend the Ohio constitution is expected to more clearly define who decides what that is, and to contain a funding component that would boost the state's responsibility for making sure that school districts have the necessary resources - that is, money.
The specifics of the proposal have been closely guarded. Its proponents have insisted they want all the I's dotted and T's crossed before they roll it out. The idea to amend the constitution is the first attempt to change the way schools are funded since the decade long court case known as DeRolph failed to produce any consensus or action on the issue.
The group pushing the ballot measure consists of Teachers Unions, PTA's and other education associations, city Mayors, and the Coalition for Adequacy and Equity in Education, the group that filed the DeRolph case in 1991.