Friday, June 25, 1999
Ohio allots $17B for education
But cap on increase causes school complaints
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Ohio lawmakers boasted Thursday that public schools will reap record increases in state aid during the next two years. But many districts could have done even bet ter had the Legislature not changed the rules this year.
The $17 billion education-only budget lawmakers sent to Gov. Bob Taft includes about $12 billion for elementary and secondary schools. That sum includes better-than-expected increases in basic aid, money to revive Cleve land's private school voucher program and $435 million for school construction and classroom computers.
However, the General Assembly capped the amount schools could receive under a formula intended to comply with an Ohio Supreme Court decision that struck down the way schools are funded.
Even though lawmakers bumped up the caps, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) “lost” more than any other district in the state that faced the limits, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Office.
CPS would have picked up an additional $11 million the first year of the plan and $14.2 million the second year if legislators had not limited its share.
Faced with $20 million in budget cuts despite generous increases in state aid, CPS officials had mixed reactions to the budget news.
“I don't want to sound greedy, since we're getting significant increases where in the past we haven't received any,” said Richard Gardner, CPS treasurer. “On the other hand, our problems wouldn't be as severe if we had that extra money.” Under the bill, no district can receive more than an 11.5 percent increase or 9.5 percent per pupil next year, whichever is more. The caps are bumped up to 12 percent and 10 percent the year after.
Statewide, capped districts will lose out on $56.8 million next year and $71.4 million the year after.
Other examples:
• Lakota Local in Butler County ($4.4 million; would have received $5.7 million without the cap).
• Mason Local in Warren County ($361,462 and $1.5 million).
The education budget was approved 28-5 in the Senate and 86-12 in the House. Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, was the only area legislator who voted against the plan. He criticized the caps and the revival of the Cleveland voucher program.
Judge Linton D. Lewis Jr. of Perry County Common Pleas Court also singled out the caps earlier this year when he ordered legislators to start over in their attempts to fix the school-funding system. (The state is appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court.)
Legislators imposed the caps in part because they felt they couldn't afford their new school-funding formula without a tax increase. An expert hired to help devise the plan also said the caps would prevent schools from spending more than they could “use wisely in any given year.”
“I wish we could have done more to lift the caps, but we did the best we could,” said Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale. “I wanted to do everything we could to prepare for the next budget, when the caps come off altogether.”
Lawmakers actually had enough money this year to eliminate the caps, but chose to spread an estimated $310 million in better-than-expected tax collections to other areas of the budget.
Judge Lewis slammed legislators for creating a new funding formula but limiting the spending they deemed adequate for schools.
“This court is not convinced that a low-wealth district with funding needs cannot distribute their funds as efficiently as a high-wealth district,” he wrote in his Feb. 26 decision.
William Phillis, leader of the coalition of schools that successfully sued the state, said caps on state aid will force some districts to ask voters for higher property taxes. He noted CPS is planning a levy campaign for fall.
When the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the funding formula two years ago, the decision ordered lawmakers to reduce the state's reliance on property taxes, a tradition that has created vast funding disparities between rich and poor schools.
“Despite all the rhetoric,” Mr. Phillis said, “they're just putting more money into an unconstitutional system.”
Later Thursday, a joint committee resolved differences between House and Senate versions of the $22.6 billion budget for the rest of state government. Lawmakers plan to send that bill to Mr. Taft on Monday.
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