Both the House of Representatives and State Board of Education took a look this month at Ohio's obscure and antiquated mechanisms for financing the education of students who have difficulty speaking and writing English.
The House education committee held a special hearing last week about the financial challenges of educating these children, who are dubbed under state and federal laws as limited English proficient (LEP). The hearing was requested by State Representative Kevin Bacon, of Westerville. Last year, there were more than 28,000 LEP students identified in Ohio, up from about 9,000 students just 10 years ago. By law, schools must provide a full academic program to LEP students along with additional assistance to help them learn English. Most schools provide these services with little extra funding.
Tom Ash, of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, explained the limitations of the two current sources of funding for serving LEP students. Federal Title III dollars are available on a per-pupil basis but this funding amounts to just $206 per student this year. The state provides some dollars for LEP students through its Poverty Based Assistance (PBA) program, but the eligibility parameters preclude most schools from receiving the money.
To receive state LEP funding, a school must first be eligible for PBA and have an English-challenged population equal to at least 2 percent of the student population. However, because the state uses the fiscal year 2003 count of LEP students in making that determination, only 11 districts in Ohio are eligible for the funding while at least 300 districts now serve LEP students.
Westerville City Schools, located in Bacon's district, serves about 1,200 LEP students who speak 82 different languages, according to district LEP coordinator Bev Good. The district is not eligible for state LEP funds and must tap other sources to finance the screening center, resource rooms, and tutoring programs it uses to help children learn English.
State funding is further limited because it is phased in at 70 percent, with no statutory mandate for an increase, and is funded on a sliding scale. Ash suggested lawmakers add a funding weight for LEP students, as is done in New Mexico, and consider a limit on how long a child could receive the funding.
Earlier this month the State Board of Education's school-funding subcommittee discussed weighting funds for different student characteristics, including limited English proficiency, and also heard about the limitations and problems with current LEP funding. While the subcommittee has not yet made recommendations, Ohio Department of Education staffers have put forth ideas for the group to consider. Among them: weight LEP status the same as the category one special education weight, identify LEP students for funding the same way they are identified for the local report card, limit how long a student may receive state LEP funding, and apply the state share percentage to the weight.
Bacon hopes the legislature will address LEP funding in the next state budget. The state board's school-funding recommendations are expected this summer after the group's June retreat. Gadfly would like to remind readers to visit our recent report Fund the Child: Bringing Equity, Autonomy, and Portability to Ohio School Finance as it lays out a framework that would help address the challenges of getting funding to the children who need, including those learning English (here).
