Cafaro: Finding state funds for Youngstown Early College difficult

YOUNGSTOWN — State Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, said she realizes the value of Ohio’s early-college programs, but finding state funding to help support them will be a difficult task.

The state has been providing aid to the nine early-college programs now in existence, but that funding got cut in the biennial budget adopted earlier this year.

Youngstown Early College, a joint program of the Youngstown city schools and Youngstown State University, had been getting about $600,000 a year in state aid to cover the tuition costs for its students taking YSU classes.

The program, now in its sixth year, allows selected high school students to earn college credit while completing their high school education in facilities on the YSU campus.

That sudden loss of funds left the school district and the university scrambling to make up the shortfall.

They put together funding for the current fiscal year that began July 1, but there’s no money in place to cover tuition costs for fiscal 2010-11.

Cafaro was on campus Friday, touring YEC facilities and meeting with university and school-district officials.

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