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Two studies show the state making progress in school funding. They also reveal how much work remains to be done
Published on Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
The 12th annual Quality Counts report graded states on public education. One of the six categories was school financing. Ohio scored a B-minus and was ranked 13th in the nation overall on eight measures of equity and adequacy in spending by school districts. The national grade was C-plus.
Ohio compared favorably nationally on other specific indicators, too, for example, on average per-pupil spending, the percentage of taxable resources spent on K-12 education and on the average difference in funding levels between the highest- and lowest-income districts.
On Thursday, another education think tank, The Education Trust, released its seventh Funding Gap report. The annual survey tracks differences in spending between high-poverty and low-poverty districts, high-minority and low-minority districts, and this year, districts with high concentrations of students learning to speak English.
The Education Trust noted impressive gains in 10 states in closing the funding gap between high-poverty and low-poverty districts from 1999 to 2005. Among these states, Ohio, Maryland and Wyoming actually reversed the spending trend. They started to provide more funding to the highest-poverty districts, spending more per-pupil in these schools.
Take the findings together, and one reasonably can conclude that Ohio has taken commendable strides toward correcting the stark funding disparities that drove the DeRolph lawsuit in the 1990s. The state can point to reduced inequities as the result of increased spending per pupil as well as funding supplements, such as poverty-based assistance.
Still, for all the encouraging findings, it would be premature to declare the funding problems essentially resolved. Ohio may be closing the equity gap, as the Funding Gap survey noted. Yet the analysis in Quality Counts indicates the state lags many others in eliminating disparities based on property wealth in a district. The state ranked 29th on a wealth-neutrality measure, 30th on the amount of spending disparity across districts, and 35th on another measure that compares median spending per-pupil in the state and the amount that would be needed to raise all students to the median spending level.
Ohio's school funding debate turns on several issues. One set involves whether the state allocates enough funds per pupil and distributes the resources equitably and efficiently to ensure a good education. The surveys suggest Ohio is making progress in addressing such issues.
A second set of issues concerns how the cost of K-12 education is shared. The DeRolph rulings of the Ohio Supreme Court found the current system relies too heavily local property owners. The number of school levies on local ballots each year is compelling evidence Ohio has yet to find a remedy.
Get the full article here.
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