The Parma City School District has joined other Ohio public schools in billing the state for funding given to charter schools. Parma is asking for nearly $50 million to off-set what district officials say is an “unfair and inequitable" state funding formula. WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier reports.
Parma City School District Treasurer Daniel Bowman says the invoice amount sent to the state is the difference between what the state gives Parma students compared to what it takes from the district for Parma charter school students.
“The state in 2015 funded us at $2,350 a student on average. But they took from us for those charter schools $7,077. So what my invoice is si that difference of $4,726.14. And that’s where we came up with our invoice of $46 million 170,000 and change.”
Bowman says he’s not against school choice, but wants the funding to be fairer. The first Ohio school district to invoice the state for charter-school funding was Woodridge in Summit County. The Elyria district and Logan Hocking in southern Ohio have also sent invoices to the state.