Dr. David Axner, Dublin School Board President Lynn May and Steve Osborne
“Education Funding in Ohio:
The Unfair Playing Field”
[Please note that much information on a complicated topic was presented in a short time; any errors in the following piece are those of your humble scribe.]
Lynn, Stephen, and David voiced a strong and passionate critique of recent changes in how Ohio funds education—changes that threaten to hurt most profoundly the highest-performing public schools, such as Dublin City Schools which boast the highest of state ratings - “Excellent with Distinction.”
“Up till about eight years ago, local businesses funded about 40 percent of our budget,” David explained, “but in 2005 the state changed the corporate tax structure.”
“Now these taxes go to state and not local schools,” added Lynn, “and while legislation was passed to replace the lost revenue, it has never completely closed the funding gap and is a band-aid, not a cure. Funding has been precarious since then, but new funding proposals have been made that will have devastating effects on our schools.”
“We’ve known for over a year that we would be facing a loss of revenue in this bi-annual budget,” Steve said, “and we made responsible plans to meet them. Changes in funding in the most recent budget, however, have produced cuts way beyond what could have been predicted from the budget figure, producing $14.5 million cut over the next two years, $8.5 million of which could never have been expected. We knew the one time Federal stimulus money from the past would not be available. We knew we would see cuts as the state phased out the tangible personal property tax. What nobody could see were changes in foundation funds that have been rolled out a funding ‘increase’ but in fact represent a funding cut of 18 percent for Dublin, instead of the 9 percent cut to the fund and the 10 percent we had therefore budgeted for.
Steve added some districts may actually get an increase in funds, based upon property values, but we will be $8.6 million down. Their assumption is that we can go to our voters to get the money back, but we passed a levy in 2008 with the promise it would last us until 2013.
“Asking for more, when it looks like we have broken a promise, is not something we want to do,” Steve said. “So, how do we make it to 2013?”
“With the Tangible Personal Property Tax being phased out much faster than it was scheduled to be in 2019, we are being hurt, but something else is hurting us. It’s an emphasis in providing funding upon party lines that is unprecedented. We hear ‘The schools need to get better and we need to punish the schools that don’t and make sure that students in poor schools all get vouchers,’ but the schools that are going to get hit the hardest are the high performers. We receive about $800 per student, but, under HB 136, if a student is given a voucher to go to a charter school, that student is given $5,000. If the school costs only $3,000, the remainder does not come back to us. It goes to a college fund for the student. We’re not against charter schools, but their accountability is not good, and they in no way can match the quality of the districts that are being punished. All we ask for is a level playing field to provide, dollar for dollar, the most cost-effective and best education that young people in Dublin can get. The charter schools can’t match our general education or address the ESOL issues that we in Dublin increasingly see.” “It’s a fundamental shift in funding models,” noted Steve, “and even the people who implemented it noted it would be a shock.”
“It represents an overall cut of 5 percent to our budget,” explained Stephen. “To make it good, we would have to eliminate 40 to 50 positions. Class sizes will have to increase. Programs will have to be decreased. If we were to go for a levy, we’d need 3.3 mills to replace the cuts--$100 a year on a $100,000 house. It’s a lot to ask, and there’s no guarantee that if we get it that we wouldn’t then put in line for more cuts.”
“Here’s something you’ll never see in a Columbus Dispatch article,” averred David. “Dublin is tied with Hilliard schools at 9 percent of budget for the lowest administrative cost. SB 5 [eliminating collective bargaining for public employees] is supposed to give us the tools to reduce costs, but our teachers have already given up many of the costs it is supposed to save. For instance, the bill mandates that a district can pay no more than 15% pension costs, but our teachers already pay 85% of their costs. SB 5 gives us little ability to save. And when people making policy factor in administrators’ salaries to claim that teachers are making too much money, even factoring in the salaries of high-paid teachers who are no longer even alive, it is hard not to think that this is an attack on dedicated people who are not making that much.”
In light of the evidence presented by Lynn, Stephen, and David, it seems that we are facing a threat to one of the main reasons why people move to Dublin, why corporations and companies settle here: our schools. Their passionate but clear-sighted and fair presentation gives Rotarians much to think about and a reason to support those seeking legislative changes to the proposed budget.