school funding

Ohio lawmakers will soon consider a school funding formula overhaul, which has undergone some changes since it was first introduced in March.

One of Gov. Mike DeWine’s 25 vetoes on the state budget struck a provision that was added at the last minute – a property tax reduction for certain homeowners in one wealthy school district, but not others.

School administrators are looking through the latest estimates from a new school funding formula proposal. While many lawmakers and some larger education groups, such as the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, have come out in support of the plan, there are individual school districts that are still not on board. 

Backers of a bipartisan school funding formula overhaul are trying again to get it passed. After failing to get their new formula in the state budget, they’ve tweaked it and now it’s a stand-alone bill.

The Speaker of the House isn’t pleased that the Senate has diverted some money his chamber had put toward services for lower-income students into other educational priorities.

Republican Senate leaders have frozen the existing school funding formula in their version of the budget.  So did the House, but it did add funding into services to help lower-income students.  Senators are planning to make some changes there.

The House Speaker calls the threat of a lawsuit from a central Ohio school superintendent “unfortunate.” The issue revolves around the 166 districts that are getting less money from the state than the school funding formula says they should. 

A group of school districts that aren’t getting the money they say the state’s school funding formula calculates they should get are threatening a federal lawsuit if the issue isn’t resolved.

Ohio’s eight urban school districts are calling for changes to the newly-proposed school funding formula saying more factors need to be taken into account.

For weeks now, Ohio lawmakers have been considering a bipartisan school funding plan from two state representatives.  They say the plan would reduce reliance on property taxes. The proposal is not funded in the proposed House budget.

Two state representatives have introduced a bill to legalize and regulate sports gambling, now that the US Supreme Court has said states can do that. If it passes, sports betting would be limited at first, but could someday be offered in surprising venues.

A new school funding formula from two state representatives is getting a lot of attention. But while the House Speaker calls the existing formula a “disaster”, he says the new one isn’t a done deal.

A proposed new school funding formula would cost the state $720 million more than the current K-12 budget. And it doesn’t include funding for charter or community schools, which the state spent more than $880 million on last year.

Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) and Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson) are traveling around the state to present their new school funding formula proposal to different teachers and school administrators around Ohio. 

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.

The man who filed the 1991 lawsuit that led to Ohio’s school funding system being ruled unconstitutional four times says a new funding formula from two state lawmakers is on the right track. But his optimism comes with a caveat.

The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down the property-tax based funding method four times in the last 22 years. Now two lawmakers say they think they’ve finally fixed it with a new school funding formula they say is stable, customizable and transparent.

Some schools throughout the state that don’t have air conditioning have been closed or are releasing students early because of heat. At least one state representative says all K-12 schools should be air conditioned and is calling on education leaders to provide inventory of buildings that lack it. 

A report commissioned by Ohio’s three major public school groups shows that state funding for K-12 education hasn’t bridged the gap between rich and poor districts, and hasn't kept pace with inflation.  It’s the first comprehensive look at state and local aid for schools since a landmark Ohio Supreme Court ruling declaring the property tax based funding system unconstitutional.

Both the House and Senate increased the amount the state will spend on its 610 school districts beyond Gov. John Kasich’s original budget proposal. But school leaders are concerned about a big cut that’s remained through all three versions of the budget.

House Republicans went back to the drawing board to roll out a new budget plan after seeing tax revenues coming up short month after month. The changes include taking out nearly all of Gov. John Kasich’s tax reform proposals and redirecting focus on the drug epidemic.

Gov. John Kasich talked to newspaper executives and editors about a variety of topics in his budget, including school funding.

State lawmakers are unlikely to come back to do any business before their next session starts next year. And the Republican who leads the House Education Committee says he wants to start a House Education Committee chair says he wants to start talking about school funding now – with a plan to overhaul of Ohio’s way of funding its public schools.

Several districts are taking a unique approach to explain their frustration with the way charter schools are funded.