Ohio Dems try to sell their education plan a final time

COLUMBUS (AP) — Democrats made one last sales pitch Tuesday on their proposed overhaul of Ohio’s education system before their plan heads to the GOP-controlled Senate, where criticism and an uncertain future await.

The Democrats who control the Ohio House said that the Ohio Association of School Business Officials had endorsed their plan to fix the state’s school funding system, which has repeatedly been deemed unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court. The funding change, and curriculum changes that stress problem-solving and interdisciplinary skills, are on track to pass the House today.

State Superintendent Deborah Delisle gave Senate Finance Committee members a broad description of the plan during testimony Tuesday. Before it heads to the Senate next week, Democrats are trying to muster as much momentum as possible.

Gov. Ted Strickland proposed a dramatic overhaul of Ohio’s school funding formula that would boost the state’s share of the cost and reduce taxpayers’ expected contribution to their local schools. His proposed “evidence-based” education system would require schools to use the latest research findings to dictate everything from class sizes to teacher training to testing.

House Democrats rewrote Strickland’s formula to give more aid to poorer school districts and less aid to wealthy ones, which garnered more legislative support. By the time the plan is fully phased in, the state’s share of education funding will rise to 61 percent from the current 50 percent.

Ohio is spending about $5.9 billion on state aid for its roughly 1.9 million public school students in the current fiscal year.

Lawmakers also relaxed portions of Strickland’s plan so that school districts could maintain the status quo in the first year, and that the timeline for implementation would expand from eight to 10 years. Districts would have more time to decrease their class sizes, lengthen the school year up to 20 days and offer all-day kindergarten.

The school business officials joined the endorsements of the Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio State Board of Education and others — including the organization that sued over Ohio’s current school funding system.

“Our members are those who are likely to be the most in tune with the need for change in the way we fund schools and also understand the serious fiscal challenges Ohio currently faces,” said Barbara Shaner, associate executive director of the school business officials’ group.

But others, most notably the Ohio School Boards Association, haven’t endorsed the plan. And Republicans have a litany of concerns about the plan, from its curriculum mandates to its reliance on federal economic stimulus money that won’t be around in two years.

Rep. Seth Morgan of Huber Heights, the ranking Republican on the House Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee, said the Democrats’ plan takes a heavy-handed approach and leaves little flexibility to local school districts. He said the plan hasn’t been vetted enough and shouldn’t be rushed — especially when districts aren’t required to make any changes in the first year.

Morgan said the rushed timeframe is a result of Strickland’s campaign promise to propose a fix to the school-funding system.