Educator & Parent Advocacy Forces Legislature on School Funding
Thanks to the advocacy of public school educators, parents, administrators, and community supporters, the state legislature finally enacted a school funding formula that is similar to the Fair School Funding Plan (formerly known as Cupp-Patterson). There are some flaws in the school funding plan and other elements of the biennial budget that was passed late Monday night, but this is still a major step forward, and OFT members should be proud of the work from members and locals across the state that made this happen.
The formula that was included in this budget is the same one that was developed and vetted by policy experts and education stakeholders. It received overwhelming bipartisan votes in the state house in this General Assembly and the previous one. It is a student-centered formula that takes into account the cost of educating our students and a local community’s capacity to contribute toward that. It removes artificial caps and immediately ends district deductions for vouchers and charter schools.
While the House has long been committed to this kind of funding formula, the Senate has stood in the way. They were able to block this formula in 2019 and 2020, and they attempted to do the same this year, offering an inadequate funding scheme that was written behind closed doors without any public vetting.
This year, our strong advocacy forced the Senate to seriously compromise when members of both chambers met in conference committee to hash out the final budget language.
While we are broadly in agreement with the funding formula that will be in place for the next two years, we are deeply disappointed that the final budget legislation did not make the funding formula permanent and did not phase in the full funding that our school districts need. That means that we need to stay in this fight until the Fair School Funding Plan is fully funded and implemented. The final legislation also eliminates the study commissions that would have school funding in the future.
While the budget does end local school district deductions for vouchers and charters, it also recklessly expand both programs. On vouchers, the budget increases the cost of each voucher and further expands eligibility. It even creates an additional tax credit for families who enroll in private schools. On charters, the budget allows charters to be created in any school district and reduces accountability measures. We have contacted the Governor’s office with requests to veto these provisions that will undermine our ability to robustly fund public education in later years.
We want to thank the legislators who listened to educators, parents, and constituents and supported the full Fair School Funding Plan, especially the bipartisan majority in the state house led by House Speaker Bob Cupp and Minority Leader Emilia Sykes. We want to call attention to the obstructionism of many in the Senate majority, especially Senate President Matt Huffman and Senator Matt Dolan. Senators Huffman and Dolan led the Senate efforts to deny a Senate vote on the Fair School Funding Plan and to develop a Senate alternative with no public input. After the final compromise on school funding was included in the budget, Senators Huffman and Dolan dug their heels in and signaled their opposition to retaining this formula beyond the next two years.
While we are on stable footing for the next two years, we are very concerned about the future of public education in Ohio. The ultimate goal of many legislators is to pass what they call the “backpack bill”, legislation that would provide local and state tax dollars to all private school students statewide. This bill would be contrary to Ohio’s constitutional guarantee to adequately and equitably fund public education.
As we get more detailed information, including funding levels for school districts, we’ll distribute those to local leaders and members.
As we move into next school year, we will need to continue to organize for fairly and fully funded local public schools. For now, take a moment to appreciate the progress that we have made together.
