Friday, September 10, 1999
Taft offers schools $10.2B
Districts must fund repairs, too
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Schools in East Africa are in better shape than some of Ohio's crumbling buildings, Gov. Bob Taft said Thursday as he outlined a $10.2 billion state aid plan to repair and replace schools during the next 12 years.
The assistance comes with strings attached. Local districts would have to raise $13 billion on their own to get the $10.2 billion in state money. The amount of local funds required will depend on a district's wealth.
While Mr. Taft promised that every school would benefit from a combination of state and local funds, it would take years before most Southwest Ohio school districts qualify for state assistance.
Moreover, because Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and most other area districts are considered too wealthy compared with poorer districts in other parts of the state, they still would have to rely largely on local funds for construction.
The state's share would include $5.9 billion from future capital improvement budgets, $2.5 billion from Ohio's share of the national tobacco settlement and $1.8 billion from the general fund and interest earnings. The plan still must be approved by the General Assembly.
Comparing schools he taught in during a Peace Corps stint in the 1960s with some of those he has toured since taking office in January, Mr. Taft said he was “saddened and disturbed” by the conditions some Ohio students and teachers endure.
“The quality of our school buildings sends a strong message to our children about the importance we attach to education,” Mr. Taft said during a Statehouse news conference. “We are building shining new sports stadiums across our state. Surely, we can afford to provide decent, safe places for our children to learn skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in life.”
Mr. Taft announced his plan as the Ohio Supreme Court considers whether state lawmakers complied with a landmark 1997 decision that struck down the way public schools are built and financed. The court condemned state officials for allowing some children to attend schools where water drips from the ceiling, paint peels from the walls and coal dust clogs computer keyboards.
A 1996 study by the federal General Accounting Office determined Ohio's school buildings were the worst in the 50 states.
Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, said the governor's plan appeared to comply with the court's edict to set aside more money for school construction. But by forcing local districts to raise most of the money, Mr. Mallory said, the proposal could violate another portion of the court decision.
“They told us to get away from the reliance on local property taxes for schools,” Mr. Mallory said. “I don't see how this plan would do that.”
Although CPS and other area districts lamented they would get little help from the state under Mr. Taft's plan, the governor and Republican legislative leaders said they have no choice but to direct tax dollars to poorer schools first.
They noted that many of the examples woven into the court's decision were of crumbling school buildings in Appalachia, where some students were learning in converted coal bins.
Lawmakers have set aside about $2 billion for school construction since most of the state's 611 districts sued for changes eight years ago.
Mr. Taft's plan would continue moving up the list of districts from poorest to richest, giving preference to those that are least able to finance repairs, renovations and new construction with locally raised taxes.
CPS is 498th on the list. All but nine of the 48 districts in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties are higher than 300.
“It will be very difficult for future General Assemblies to back away from this commitment, but we have to be mindful of the court decision,” said Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale. “If we start changing things around too much, that's going to get us into trouble.”
With CPS facing an estimated $700 million in needed repairs, school officials have been lobbying legislators to change the way the state awards construction funds. They contend downtown development makes the district appear wealthier than it is.
Under state's distribution formula, CPS would get 20 percent of its construction funding from the state. The rest would have to be raised locally.
“We're glad the governor is tackling this problem, but it's somewhat disappointing for us,” said Kent Cashell, the district's business executive.
In many of CPS' 79 schools, there is peeling paint, exposed wiring, leaky roofs, broken windows, crumbling walls, pockmarked pavement and other problems, Mr. Cashell said. Almost half of the district's school buildings are more than 50 years old, and the district hasn't had a major building project since the mid-1970s.
CPS is planning to issue bonds to raise about $120 million for school repairs and renovations, Mr. Cashell said. The bonds would be backed by money promised to the district by the city and Hamilton County as part of a deal to build new stadiums for the Bengals and Reds.
Under Mr. Taft's plan, all of the Big 8 urban districts would receive some state funding by 2003.
Officials in other area districts say they could use help to deal with the influx of students streaming into their schools. But it appears they also will have to wait.
“We're looking at having to build two more elementary schools in the next few years just to keep up with growth,” said Kathleen Klink, superintendent at Lakota Local Schools in Butler County. “We haven't discussed any state involvement up to this point because, frankly, we felt we wouldn't qualify for anything.”
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