New Hope for Ohio's Schools

In yesterday's State of the State message, Governor Ted Strickland unveiled his program to reform public schools in Ohio. Included was Strickland's proposal for reforming public school funding in the state. As regular readers of this blog know, this is one of my obsessions.

Four times, the state Supreme Court has ruled Ohio's shell-game funding "plan," unconstitutional. Republican and Democratic governors and General Assemblies have tinkered without doing away with what's referred to as "phantom revenue," through which the state makes money local voters thought they dedicated to their schools through levies, disappear.

Kudos to Strickland for biting a bullet.

My previous post on this subject contains links in which I've discussed phantom revenue in greater detail.

Ohio Ranks Seventh in Education

Education Week, the publication of a not-for-profit organization that seeks excellence in education, says Ohio has the seventh-best public education program among all the states. Ohio was given a B- overall.

For a severely cash-strapped state whose public school funding program has been ruled unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court on four different occasions, this is, quite frankly, amazing news.

Governor Ted Strickland, who was elected in 2006, has said that if he doesn't get the school funding mess straightened out and institute other education reforms during his tenure as chief executive is through, he will consider his term a failure. If Strickland can convince the General Assembly, the state's legislature, and all the relevant players to go along with his reform plans, he will do what none of his predecessors, Democratic or Republican, have been able to pull off.

Strickland may have a better chance of getting a reform program through in the next two years. While his first two years were marked by uncommon cooperation between the Democratic governor and the Republican assembly, the State House of Representatives will now be under the control of the Democrats, presumably smoothing passage of Strickland's agenda in that body.

Here is an interactive state report card map.
Here is detailed state data.
Here is a statement from the governor.

Here are links to several pieces I've written on Ohio's public school funding crisis over the past four years:
It's Time to Get Mad About Ohio's School Funding Crisis (March 25, 2005)
A Blueprint for Reforming Ohio's Public School Funding (March 30, 2005)
Governor Working on Master Plan for Ohio Education (October 30, 2008)

Governor Working on Master Plan for Ohio Education

Governor Ted Strickland's embryonic master plan for the reform of Ohio's educational system, which the Dispatch blog outlines, looks good. Of particular interest to me was this point:

Effective support strategies must be in place to provide all students with an opportunity for academic success, regardless of their personal situation, and to once and for all eliminate the achievement gap.

If that means what I think it means, the governor is intent on taking on the corrupt shell-game that passes for educational funding in this state. Under the Ohio plan, in spite of the intentions of voters when they pass levies, the state effectively steals money designated for the local schools and put it all into state coffers. Several times, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled Ohio's funding formula unconstitutional by the standards of the State Constitution. Yet, decades' worth of governors and General Assemblies, members of both political parties, have failed to reform the system. Until such reform happens, no other changes in public education will make a difference for Ohio.

[For a somewhat more detailed explanation of Ohio's public school funding "formula," see here.]