COLUMBUS -- Ohio may be losing the battle to fix what the federal government has identified as the worst classroom facilities among the 50 states, the Akron Beacon Journal reported Monday.
New classroom requirements imposed by the legislature, inflation, and wear and tear from children will likely raise the repair bill faster than state and local school districts can address the problem, the newspaper said, based on its analysis of state data.
The state is promising to spend $300 million a year -- and districts are already spending an average $562 million a year on improvements. But the combined $862 million in state and local money would fall far short of a problem state experts say has been growing by $1.4 billion annually, the Beacon Journal said.
School buildings are at issue because the Ohio Supreme Court declared public school funding unconstitutional in 1997. The court said the state has an obligation to provide all children with an adequate education and school facilities.
Judge Linton Lewis Jr. of Perry County Common Pleas Court has completedtwo weeks of hearings to determine whether the state has complied with the ruling, and his decision in the case is not expected until next year.
