BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Public Schools leaders looking to state and federal lawmakers to fund $700 million in needed building improvements may have to look elsewhere.
Help does not appear to be on the way.
Gov. George Voinovich, running to replace Democratic Sen. John Glenn, says he opposes increased federal spending on school facilities because legislators need to study existing programs and cut waste before earmarking more money for crumbling schools.
"We need to inventory what we're doing on a national level before we go out and start a new program," the governor said during a visit to Western Hills High School on Tuesday afternoon.
Bob Taft, GOP gubernatorial candidate, says he supports maintaining current spending levels on school facilities. Ohio earmarks $300 million a year on school repairs and has spent more than $1 billion on school reconstruction since 1993.
He said he would support more if Ohio wins money in a tobacco settlement or encounters some other windfall or surplus.
"The state needs to be a continuing partner in school facilities," Mr. Taft said.
Democrat Lee Fisher, Mr. Taft's opponent, agrees that current spending levels should be maintained, but he says schools should top the state's list of capital improvement projects.
"I prefer not to view it as an either-or situation," Mr. Fisher said, referring to the school vs. stadium funding debate. "The schools should be a higher priority. That's why I called for an "Education First' capital budget."
The state constitution also should be changed to allow the state to lower its borrowing costs by issuing general obligation bonds to finance school construction and repairs, Mr. Fisher said. Voters this year rejected such an amendment.
But the candidates' reluctance to promise more money angered district leaders, who say Ohio lawmakers must shoulder more school costs.
"Our state is 50th in the nation in terms of the age and conditions of our buildings. That's an embarrassment," school board member Sally Warner said.
"We've pledged plenty of money toward stadiums, but we can't spend any on schools. It's disappointing that a gubernatorial candidate would not pledge more money to improve school buildings that are the worst in the nation."
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Tom Mooney wrote to the governor this week, asking him to redirect a $60 million stadium pledge he made to Hamilton County in 1996 to county schools.
"School funding is the state's constitutional responsibility," Mr. Mooney said. "They need to reread the state constitution and the DeRolph decision and . . . do something."
In March, the Ohio Supreme Court in DeRolph vs. Ohio found the state's system of education funding unconstitutional, saying the burden should be on state taxpayers, not local property owners. Even if state support increases, voters will be asked to pay for many of the needed improvements, district officials said. City and Hamilton County officials have pledged $200 million over 20 years to help fix schools.
But debating whether the money should come from federal, state or local coffers is useless because taxpayers will always foot the bill, Mr. Voinovich said.
"I'd rather pay taxes locally or statewide, because federal lawmakers take out a big brokerage fee," the governor said.
And stadiums represent only 1 percent, or $52.8 million, of Ohio's $5.05 billion capital funding budget, he added.
The facilities plan -- a blueprint guiding building improvements for the next 15 years -- was released Monday after 18 months of study. The plan recommends closing 19 schools, replacing 12 of those, and creating five new schools.
Renovating and replacing 69 elementaries is projected to cost $459 million, while improvements at the district's nine high schools are pegged at $98 million. Construction fees and other related costs would be $140 million.
Sandy Theis contributed to this report.
