Ohio legislators say the funding in the budget they sent to Gov. Mike DeWine this week is the most they have ever provided public schools. However, a handful of schools in Northeast Ohio will be losing more than a million dollars each.
Parma City School District is set to lose more than $4 million over the next two years. Outgoing Superintendent Charles Smialek said his district, which has struggled to get levies passed, will not be able to take that kind of funding hit without having to cut back, affecting class sizes and programming. He says it will make the district's need for a levy even more dire.
"It's a continuation of privatization of public education. I mean, it's very clear," Smialek said. "We hear great statements about caring about Ohio's children from the governor often, but we're also watching a billion dollars go out the door toward private schools in the form of vouchers. And so it's a dark day for public education."
Many public school districts will receive an increase in funding under the budget proposal. The state is providing $8.11 billion in the current fiscal year to public schools. That increases to $8.15 billion in the next fiscal year and $8.26 billion the year after. The largest increase in funding in the region will be for Akron Public Schools, receiving about $4.9 million over the next two years. That still pales in comparison to how much they would receive if the Fair School Funding Plan was put into place, about $102 million.
The Fair School Funding Plan, a bipartisan plan that has boosted funding gradually for schools over the last four years, which advocates argue more accurately assesses the true cost of education, is continued in spirit in the state budget but the model uses cost estimates from several years ago. In general, most schools are receiving far less in this budget than they would receive if the plan was fully funded, according to an analysis from Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit research institute.
The state funding numbers also do not take into account potential losses that school districts could also incur if they carry over more than 40% of their operating budget in savings from one year to the next, subjecting them to a measure in the budget proposal that would require them to return that money to taxpayers.
Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) told the Statehouse News Bureau that Ohioans are fed up with high property taxes.
"We see school districts carrying over, in some cases 70, 80, 90%, sometimes well over 100% of their annual expenditures year to year," McColley said. "It stands to reason that there should be an explanation for why they need to carry over that much money while they're charging very high property taxes. So this will deliver needed relief."
In terms of other large school districts in the region, Canton City School District is losing about $2.2 million over the next two years in funding under the budget proposal. The region's largest school district, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, would see relatively flat funding, despite seeking to cut spending significantly over the next three years to avoid a budget deficit.
"The exact amount of CMSD’s state funding remains to be seen," CMSD said in a statement Friday. "While we appreciate that the state is keeping the Fair School Funding Plan, the use of four-year-old data means the formula assumes local taxpayers pay a greater share each year. In the meantime, the district continues to look for viable ways to cut our spending and seek potential new revenue sources."
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will still need to approve the budget, along with any line-item vetoes, by the end of the month on Monday.
