The Ohio state legislature is \u201cbowing\u201d 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 \u201cthe usual\u201d: knuckling under to the extremists that make up their primary voters, the MAGA crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t \u201cfeel bound” by the rulings of the Court. While they pay lip service to \u201cthorough and efficient\u201d; 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s 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 \u201cpercent\u201d of value. But, somehow all the taxes still doubled. Local folks are not happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s the rub: the School District looks to lose about 10% of its income. That’s around $7 million. What\u2019s are they supposed to do? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
80% or more of a public school operating cost is employees, mostly teachers. So to reduce the budget by 10%, the \u201cmeat\u201d to cut is staffing. Let\u2019s say the \u201caverage teacher\u201d here makes $60000 (that\u2019s what AI says<\/em>). To cut $7 million from the annual budget, it\u2019s simple: cut a third of the teaching staff!! That\u2019s right, there\u2019s around 250 teachers in Southwest Licking, fire a third and you save around $7 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course that\u2019s not realistic. Teachers are the ones doing the work \u2013 right? Class sizes of 50 and 60 kids don\u2019t work (though I remember trying in the early 1980\u2019s). 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\u2019s any school district, particularly the local schools here, supposed to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure: they can cut busing, cut co-curriculars, cut everything that motivates kids to go to school; everything that makes for a great \u201cpublic school\u201d experience. We\u2019ve been through all of that before here. It\u2019s no fun: for the school, the staff, the parents or the kids. And it doesn\u2019t help property values either. No one wants a house in a stripped down school district, even in the booming metro-Columbus market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cheavy lift\u201d. I\u2019ve been involved in school levy campaigns for years. Go to the community and say: \u201cThe State cut your taxes, but we need them to run the schools. Give ’em back\u201d. That\u2019s a tough sell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019t 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 \u201csquare\u201d with the State Constitution, a fair and equitable system of finance, giving everyone in the state the same opportunities. But it\u2019s not likely to happen in Ohio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s one other source of income. The State of Ohio is spending over a billion dollars of public <\/span>education money to subsidize private<\/span> 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 \u201cbackpack\u201d. That\u2019s another part of the MAGA creed. They believe public schools are \u201cwoke\u201d institutions indoctrinating \u201cwoke\u201d ideologies. They want their kids in ideologically restricted private schools. At least, that\u2019s what they think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, as a former public school teacher, I can tell you that I couldn\u2019t even \u201cindoctrinate\u201d kids to turn in their homework or not stick gum under the desk, much less believe in \u201cwoke\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s an old saying: \u201cThat dog won\u2019t hunt\u201d. The current state legislature is bent on supporting private education, and cutting public schools. If you were a conspiracy theorist, you might think it\u2019s a plot. Those MAGA folks are getting what they wish for \u2013 I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the public schools are left \u201cholding the bag\u201d. 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, \u201cThe heart of it all\u201d, or at least the heart of school tax campaigns!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back to the Voters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fund Public Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n