We are under assault,' Advocates say Ohio school funding being actively undercut
Reported byChronicle Telegram
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With several Lorain County districts asking voters for levies next month, two advocacy groups, Ohio Organizing Collaborative and Parents United for Public Education, held a town hall at the Elyria Schools Administration building on Tuesday. Panelists argued that school funding gaps come from choices made by the Republican-led state legislature, not from highly paid administrators or local mismanagement.
Madelaine Matej MacQueen of Policy Matters Ohio said the Fair School Funding Plan, created after the Ohio Supreme Court found the old system unconstitutional, is not being funded as designed. She said the state now covers about 37 percent of school costs on average, local sources cover 55 percent, and more than 80 percent of local money is from property taxes. She said the state is paying $2.75 billion less than the plan's math calls for over two years, because it kept 2022 cost figures but updated what districts can raise locally. She said Elyria will get about $20 million less, Lorain $32 million less and Avon $1.5 million less.
Former Columbia superintendent Graig Bansek called the shortfall intentional, citing a record $2.4 billion in the state budget for private and charter school vouchers. MacQueen also pointed to income tax cuts and a data center tax exemption that she said cost far more than projected. Teacher Kurt Russell said school funding is tied to democracy. The article includes no response from state lawmakers.
Why it matters
The panelists' claims connect state budget decisions to local property tax burdens and to the funding of Elyria, Lorain and Avon schools, just as levies go before voters. Families, taxpayers and board members may weigh how state and local funding shares affect their districts.
- State funding formula
- School vouchers
- Property taxes
- School levy
- State legislature
- Court ruling
Written with AI from the publisher's article and may contain errors. The original reporting is the authoritative source.
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- How should voters weigh local levy requests against concerns about the state's share of school funding?
- What information would help residents compare a district's actual state funding with what the Fair School Funding Plan projected?
- How should school boards and communities talk with state lawmakers about funding priorities such as vouchers and public schools?
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