The School Funding System in Ohio is Constitutional

Hello class!

Let’s begin with a fact.

Ohio’s school funding system is constitutional.

It has been since 2003.

That’s because the Ohio Supreme Court released the original DeRolph case in 2002.

Since then, every single operating budget passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, including the current one, has included a school funding system that, as a matter of law, is constitutional. No court has ruled otherwise in 23 years.

The Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy, Ohio Education Association, and every other far-left special interest group that has vilified parents and protected predatory practices (such as putting boys in girls’ locker rooms) wants you to believe their lie. That lie is something they’ve repeated for two decades.

This is how the left operates. Lie. Then repeat the lie through the media which are willing accomplices and today often too lazy to challenge those lies by just doing a little homework.

Ah yes, homework. What a concept. You did it, I did it, and look at us, we graduated with a diploma. We could actually pass reading and math tests, and have a solid knowledge of United States and Ohio history.

Sadly, today that is lacking for so many districts that spend tens of thousands of dollars per pupil.

In a recent Columbus Dispatch story, the superintendent of Westerville City Schools was actually complaining and blaming the General Assembly for not funding schools.

Oddly, there was not a comment from the General Assembly, so I emailed the reporter, and said the following:

“It is misleading at best for districts like this to keep blaming the General Assembly when they have huge cash balances on hand that are more than 50% of their yearly budget. The General Assembly invested an additional billion dollars into K-12 education in the current budget, and yet, districts just keep up the same old tired campaign for more and more money from the taxpayers. Go to your school board meetings and ask questions about who and what those dollars are paying for.”

The quote was added to the original story.

Here’s a handy resource for you. It’s the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Five Year Forecast webpage. There you can find the cash balance forecast for all 611 school districts in Ohio.

You’ll see Westerville had an ending cash balance of $161 million in FY ‘24 and is forecasting $145 million in FY ‘25, and $115 million in FY ‘26.

This is cash on hand and a large balance compared to the district’s total revenue.

But as the Dispatch reported, the district had the gall to send a letter to parents that said:

"We are deeply concerned about the continued impact of state-level decisions that underfund public education," the Westerville letter to families said. "Addressing this issue will require collective action, and we encourage our community to join us in advocating for fair and equitable funding for our schools at the state legislative level throughout the budget process."

That is simply a lie.

K-12 schools in Ohio received an additional billion-dollar investment from the Ohio General Assembly in the current budget that ends July 1st.  The average per pupil spending for K-12 schools is $14,584. 

That’s an average.

Olentangy Schools in Delaware County spend $25,031.

Shaker Heights City Schools in Cuyahoga County spend $33,701. 

Yet, time and time again local taxpayers are asked for a new levy for the children.

This is why it is so important to ask these key questions at your local school board. How much? How is it spent? What results am I getting for my millage or my local school district income tax?

Do your homework. When you do, you’ll ask the right questions.

You’ll remember the original DeRolph case centered on the dilapidated, aging school buildings in Perry County. 

In 1997, following the DeRolph decision, Ohio started the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which is now called the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. 

$14 billion has been spent on new school construction.

300 districts and counting had all their schools built or updated in partnership with the OFCC.

Are there still districts that need new buildings? Sure.

Are voters, in this case taxpayers, less likely to pass levies to cover part of the cost not covered by the state, even though the state pays for 60% of the cost.  Sometimes.

Everyone wants quality schools. Also, every taxpayer wants to know that their hard-earned tax dollars aren’t being wasted, only to then be asked to approve another levy.

If you’ve been watching the meltdown by the left over their USAID slush fund, that sends billions of your federal tax dollars overseas that could be better used to reduce the deficit and take care of the American people, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re smiling too, watching the full accounting, dismissals, and of course lies coming from the left. It is glorious. And yes, it is exactly what the people voted for by electing Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

This is why the Education Choice Scholarship Program has been such a huge success. Parents are fed up with being vilified and treated like an enemy by the special interests and administrators running the unions. Those scholarships save the state money and make parents happy.

Remember the average per pupil spending for K-12 public schools is $14,584. 

The scholarships provide $6,166 for K-8, and $8,408 for 9th-12th grades. And that is all based on a sliding income scale.

This drives the special interests insane. They treat your tax dollars like alimony, which I’m not sure, but might be Latin for “all the money.” That’s what the special interests want. All the money. All your money. Results and accountability for your child’s education be damned.

The Dispatch reported that after Westerville voters defeated the district’s most recent levy 52% to 48%, the district cut the budget by $4.8 million and may cut another $3.2 million next year. All while sitting on a $161 million cash balance.

It’s not the state, it’s not the local taxpayers, it’s the management spending your tax money.