Be Careful What You Wish For

Bowing to the Base

The Ohio state legislature is “bowing” to the will of the people.  Well, not quite all of the people.  Probably not a majority.  Perhaps a majority of the people who voted for the current Republican legislature.  In the end, the legislators in Columbus are doing “the usual”: knuckling under to the extremists that make up their primary voters, the MAGA crowd. 

Without disappearing too far into “the weeds”,  Ohio has a long standing problem with funding public education.  At the turn of this century, the State Supreme Court ruled that the way Ohio funds schools is unconstitutional.  The Court said, “(Ohio)…fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools.”  But, like gerrymandering and legalized marijuana here in the Buckeye State, the legislature doesn’t “feel bound” by the rulings of the Court.  While they pay lip service to “thorough and efficient”;  ultimately how much money public schools have to create a quality education is still based on how wealthy the local community is. Live in a “rich” district, get a “rich education”. Live in a poor district – not so much.

The basis of Ohio school funding is the local property tax.  In my community, the school system gets about 66% of that tax money. Other local services: fire, sheriff’s department and the various county services, divide the rest.   How much you pay is based on the tax value of your property.  Property valuations have nearly doubled in the past five years. Supposedly most school issues (bonds and levies) are based on a set dollar amount, not a “percent” of value.  But, somehow all the taxes still doubled. Local folks are not happy.

Just Cut

So the legislature has arbitrarily cut local property taxes.  Many in our community are rejoicing, hoping to cut a third or more from their tax bill.  But here’s the rub:  the School District looks to lose about 10% of its income.  That’s around $7 million. What’s are they supposed to do?  

80% or more of a public school operating cost is employees, mostly teachers.  So to reduce the budget by 10%, the “meat” to cut is staffing.  Let’s say the “average teacher” here makes $60000 (that’s what AI says).  To cut $7 million from the annual budget, it’s simple: cut a third of the teaching staff!!  That’s right, there’s around 250 teachers in Southwest Licking, fire a third and you save around $7 million.  

Of course that’s not realistic.  Teachers are the ones doing the work – right?  Class sizes of 50 and 60 kids don’t work (though I remember trying in the early 1980’s). And, as Covid so clearly showed, computers are NOT the teachers of the future.   In fact, cutting that many staff members is beyond ridiculous.  So what’s any school district,  particularly the local schools here, supposed to do?

Sure: they can cut busing, cut co-curriculars, cut everything that motivates kids to go to school; everything that makes for a great “public school” experience.  We’ve been through all of that before here.  It’s no fun: for the school, the staff, the parents or the kids.  And it doesn’t help property values either.  No one wants a house in a stripped down school district, even in the booming metro-Columbus market.

Back to the Voters

Instead, the schools have to go to the public and ask for more money.  They will ask voters for more property taxes, to replace what the state took away.  But that surely is going to be a “heavy lift”.  I’ve been involved in school levy campaigns for years.   Go to the community and say: “The State cut your taxes, but we need them to run the schools.  Give ’em back”.   That’s a tough sell.  

There are other ways to fund schools on a local level:  our District already has a  0.75% income tax.  It raises about $9 million.  But all of folks excited about reducing and abolishing property taxes aren’t likely to be interested in doubling the income tax.   That certainly would be the fair way to apportion school costs, IF the whole state was taxed and then the money was divided.   It would get Ohio “square” with the State Constitution, a fair and equitable system of finance, giving everyone in the state the same opportunities.  But it’s not likely to happen in Ohio.

Fund Public Education

And then there’s one other source of income.  The State of Ohio is spending over a billion dollars of public education money to subsidize private schools through  vouchers.  Currently, regardless of income, if you want to send your kid to a private school, state education money goes in their proverbial “backpack”.  That’s another part of the MAGA creed.  They believe public schools are “woke” institutions indoctrinating “woke” ideologies. They want their kids in ideologically restricted private schools.   At least, that’s what they think.  

But, as a former public school teacher, I can tell you that I couldn’t even “indoctrinate” kids to turn in their homework or not stick gum under the desk, much less  believe in “woke” stuff.  Instead of paying kids to go to private schools, Ohio could just take that public tax money and apportion it among the public schools. Parents who want private education could do what they always did:  pay for the privilege. That would go a long way towards solving the problem.

There’s an old saying:  “That dog won’t hunt”.  The current state legislature is bent on supporting private education, and cutting public schools.  If you were a conspiracy theorist, you might think it’s a plot.  Those MAGA folks are getting what they wish for – I guess.

Meanwhile, the public schools are left “holding the bag”.  Future financial plans are instantly invalid, and the really hard work of going back to the ballot for funding has just begun.  Welcome to Ohio, “The heart of it all”, or at least the heart of school tax campaigns!!!