School Funding in Ohio

By Thomas G. Brown

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled our method of school funding unconstitutional years ago.

It is time to shift the total burden of funding the State's public education system from the shoulders of property owners. Fair and adequate funding of all Ohio Schools is urgently needed, now.

The State needs to look at other options on how to fund the education of our children. A combination of property taxes, sales taxes and / or income taxes may be required to provide a world-class education to all Ohio's children. We all need to make sure that our children are provided with modern school buildings, state of the art computers, access to art and music programs, and to hire the best teachers.

Each local school district should still have the ability to ask the voters for additional funds to provide other non-educational items, such as sports equipment and extra curricular activities. The method that these funds are raised should mirror the State's system and not place the total burden of the local school district additional funding on the shoulders of property owners exclusively.