Ohio Republican leaders are looking at cutting spending for public education, calling the current formula — a policy that was created after the state had unconstitutional funding for three decades — “unsustainable.”
House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima), a champion of sending taxpayer dollars to private schools through the EdChoice voucher system, questions how well public schools are spending their money.
Two Northeast Ohio superintendents beg him to reconsider but also question how accountable the voucher system truly is.
Public money for public schools
The vast majority of Ohio students go to public schools. And for a good education, Parma City Schools Superintendent Charles Smialek says K-12 needs to be fully funded.
Seventy-five percent of PCSD’s funding comes from property taxes, while the rest comes from the state. That’s thanks to the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the way the state funds schools is unconstitutional, relying too much on taxes.