NOTE: Today, the Ohio House's Finance Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education Committee heard testimony on House Bill 33, legislation establishing the state’s budget for fis
During his first term, Governor DeWine established a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at helping schools address the non-academic needs of students.
This being a budget year, state lawmakers will soon be delving into the minutia of school funding. To help inform these discussions, we’ve begun a series looking at Ohio’s funding system, including a deep-dive into the new formula that lawmakers enacted in 2021 and which Governor DeWine has proposed to maintain.
In anticipation of debates about school funding in the coming months, I recently began a series on Ohio’s new school funding formula.
In summer 2021, Ohio lawmakers passed a brand-new school funding formula for Ohio’s 600-plus school districts and 300-plus public charter schools.
Over the last few years, the federal government has sent billions of dollars in emergency funding to states via several relief packages aimed at addressing the impacts of Covid-19.
As the excitement of a new year dwindles and Ohioans settle back into their familiar routines, policymakers and advocates are gearing up for yet another budget season. Governor DeWine is scheduled to release his proposed biennial state operating budget in just a few short weeks, and by June, a host of new legislative provisions will likely become law.
Sylvia Allegretto and her colleagues at the union-backed Economic Policy Institute (EPI) have been arguing for over eighteen years that teachers are underpaid. Her latest in a long line of reports on the topic was published in August and follows the same methodology as all previous versions.
Recognizing the importance of an educated citizenry, Ohio taxpayers have made generous investments in K–12 education. In FY 2021, statewide spending on public primary and secondary education reached a record high of $21 billion or $13,300 per pupil.
Thanks to inflation and supply chain issues, back-to-school shopping was an especially tight squeeze for many families this year. But parents aren’t the only ones shouldering the financial burden. Teachers are, too.
Last Tuesday, Ohioans finally voted in primaries for state representative and (if applicable) state senator after the traditional spring primary was delayed due to redistricting issues.
Politicians are notorious for handing out subsidies for certain projects and sectors
There’s a growing body of <
Due to massive financial woes, Ohio suspended cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retired teachers in July 2017.
Over the past two decades, student enrollment has gradually declined across Ohio, reflecting demographic changes and out-migration that have reduced the overall childhood population
For decades, analysts have observed large achievement gaps between low-income children and their peers, disparities that have only widened due to Covid.
Last week, five school districts filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County courts that attempts to strike down EdChoice, Ohio’s private scholarship program that serves roughly 50,000 school children, many of whom are among the need
On January 3, Justin Bibb was sworn in as the new mayor of Cleveland. His inauguration marks the first time the city has had new leadership since 2006.
President Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress are poised to continue the federal government’s spending spree, this time through a $2 trillion extravaganza named Build Back Better (BBB). Just before Thanksgiving, the House of Representatives narrowly passed its version of the measure, and the Senate is now mulling possible changes to the package.
Every student ought to have safe, reliable transportation to a school that meets their needs. Recognizing this, Ohio law has long required districts to offer transportation to all resident students in grades K–8 who live more than two miles from their school—whether that’s a district, charter, private, or STEM school.
At the end of June, Ohio lawmakers passed House Bill 110, the biennial operating budget for FYs 2022–23. It included a new school funding framework that received bipartisan support and was backed by school district officials and teachers unions.
On July 1, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 110, the state’s operating budget for fiscal years 2022–23.
Today, the Ohio Senate and House, each with broad bipartisan support, approved the report of the budget conference committee and sent HB 110 (the biennium state budget) to Governor DeWine for his approval.
It’s been a busy budget season filled with heated debates over how to revise Ohio’s school-funding formula, testing and
Over the past few years, school-funding policy has been at the forefront of Ohio’s education debates.
Earlier this year, Governor DeWine requested that all public schools create and publish plans to address student learning loss caused by the pandemic.
Across the nation, state lawmakers have been heeding the call for parents to have more control over their children’s education.
NOTE: On June 3, 2021, the Ohio Senate’s Finance Committee heard testimony on House Bill 110, the state budget bill.
Today, the Ohio Senate released its version of the biennial state budget (House Bill 110). As a sizeable portion of overall state expenditures, K–12 education funding has rightly been subject to much debate since Governor DeWine and the Ohio House unveiled their budget proposals earlier this year.
Just over a year ago, Congress passed the first
