The Akron Beacon Journal ran an article on January 21st, subsequently picked up by many of the state's newspapers, that misleadingly suggests that Ohio's community school funding system harms traditional school districts and worsens inter-district inequities. This is inaccurate. When children exit for charter schools, Ohio's funding system actually leaves more money per pupil in district coffers for their remaining students.
Consider the example of Cincinnati, which was cited in the Beacon Journal story. According to the paper's numbers, if there were no charter schools, the district would have 39,999 students and $298 million in combined state and local revenues - $7,450 per student. With charter schools, the district has 33,000 pupils and $253.3 million in combined state and local revenue - $7,676 per student. And what about inter-district inequity? There might be a constitutional issue if the charter funding mechanism somehow placed more of a burden on low-wealth districts, but the opposite seems to be occurring. That seems like a good thing for equity, not a bad thing.
Lurking behind all of this is the fact that community schools are greatly underfunded relative to district schools. Again using the Beacon Journal example, Cincinnati district schools receive $7,676 per child in combined revenues, while Cincinnati's community schools only get the $6,382 the state sends them. They receive no local money. It's the community schools, not the district schools, that really lose out.