Skip to main content

Mobile Navigation

  • National
    • Policy
      • High Expectations
      • Quality Choices
      • Personalized Pathways
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Gadfly Newsletter
      • Flypaper Blog
    • Events
    • Scholars Program
  • Ohio
    • Policy
      • Priorities
      • Media & Testimony
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Ohio Education Gadfly Biweekly
      • Ohio Gadfly Daily
  • Charter Authorizing
    • Application
    • Sponsored Schools
    • Resources
  • About
    • Mission
    • Board
    • Staff
    • Career
Home
Home
Advancing Educational Excellence

Main Navigation

  • National
  • Ohio
  • Charter Authorizing
  • About

Ohio Menu

  • Topics
    • Accountability & Testing
    • Advanced Education
    • Career & Technical Education
    • Charter Schools
    • Curriculum & Instruction
    • ESSA
    • Evidence-Based Learning
    • Governance
    • Personalized Learning
    • Private School Choice
    • School Finance
    • Standards
    • Teachers & School Leaders
  • Research
  • Policy
  • Commentary
    • Ohio Gadfly Newsletter
    • Ohio Gadfly Blog
    • Events
School Funding

Is Ohio’s school funding system still unconstitutional?

Aaron Churchill
12.8.2020
12.8.2020

Nearly a quarter century after the DeRolph v. Ohio decision, many still assume that the state’s school funding system is unconstitutional.

In fact, the much-discussed Cupp-Patterson school funding plan has been billed by some as the long-awaited constitutional system. But is the “unconstitutional” label still a fair characterization of Ohio’s current funding arrangements?

Our new analysis, Is Ohio’s School Funding System Still Unconstitutional? digs into the important questions that continue to be asked about school funding in Ohio:

  • Is Ohio’s school funding system adequate?
  • Does Ohio rely excessively on property taxes?
  • Is Ohio’s school funding system equitable?
  • Is school choice eroding district funding in Ohio?

We urge you to download the report and decide for yourself.

* * * * *

On Thursday, December 10, 2020, we held a Zoom event with author Aaron Churchill. You can check out the full event, including a lively Q&A with Chad Aldis and our attendees, in the video below:


Policy Priority:
School Funding
Topics:
School Finance
Tags: Ohio
School funding paper cover
DOWNLOAD PDF
Aaron Churchill 2025 headshot

Aaron Churchill is the Ohio research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he has worked since 2012. In this role, Aaron oversees research  and commentary aimed at strengthening education policy in Ohio. He writes regularly on Fordham’s blog, the Ohio Gadfly Daily on topics such as…

View Full Bio

Related Resources

view Students sit at laptops in a classroom while social media reaction icons and notification bubbles appear across the foreground.
Standards & Accountability

High Tech, Low Standards: High School in the Age of Distraction

Brian R. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D. 9.9.2026
NationalReport
view Next Chapter SoR report image - Getty Images/ValerioGalli
Standards & Accountability

The Next Chapter: Ohio’s implementation of the science of reading—and where to next

Aaron Churchill 8.18.2026
OhioReport
view Moving Target Featured Image
Quality Choices

Moving Target: The Success and Failure of Missouri’s Charter School Funding Surge

Andrew M. Camp, Ph.D., Collin Hitt, Ph.D., David Griffith, Ph.D. 8.12.2026
NationalReport
Fordham Logo

© 2026 The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Privacy Policy
Usage Agreement

National

P.O. Box 110
Burke, VA 22009

202.223.5452

[email protected]

Ohio

P.O. Box 82291
Columbus, OH 43202

614.223.1580

[email protected]

Sponsorship

130 West Second Street, Suite 410
Dayton, Ohio 45402

937.227.3368

[email protected]