The Ohio House and Senate are now considering different versions of their school funding plans as part of the upcoming state budget. Some of the members of a bipartisan group that created a school funding plan that was considered in the legislature last year want to refocus lawmakers on the proposal.
Former Democratic House Member John Patterson sponsored the planwith current Speaker Bob Cupp. Patterson says that school funding overhaul, developed with input from a non-partisan panel, focuses on fair funding and solves problems of over-reliance on property taxes. He says the Senate plan abandons much of his group’s plan because lawmakers are afraid it won’t be flexible enough should the state encounter unknown financial problems in the future.
“This is affordable. It is sustainable. And when it needs to be, it’s scalable," Patterson says.
Patterson and members of his group say they are willing to work with the conference committee as it considers education funding in the new two-year budget.