Two state lawmakers who say they’ve made Ohio’s school funding formula more stable and fair have released financial details that show what Ohio's 612 school districts will get. They’re also showing the plan will cost the state a lot more money.
Right now, more than half of Ohio's school districts got less from the existing formula than last year, so the state made up the difference. Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson) said 85 percent of schools will get the right funding under this new formula.
Patterson said it reflects some big percentage increases for wealthy district because they haven’t been getting the state funding they should have, because it’s been diverted to schools that were guaranteed at least what they got last year.
“And now we're trying to shift that pendulum out of fairness for everybody," Patterson said.
Patterson said he and Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) need more information to calculate funding to help economically disadvantaged students, who typically have much worse test scores.
The plan would cost $720 million more than the current K-12 budget.
