Gov. John Kasich released the basics of his state budget proposal for the next two years, raising the amount of state help for school districts and charter schools in Ohio by $700 million.
But it will have some changes that can shift what each district receives.
Kasich and staff announced his plan during a press conference Monday.
Democrats in the Ohio House, who will soon start considering a budget bill, said immediately after the announcement that they worry that Kasich’s announced increases will simply be offset by education cuts elsewhere.
State Rep. Dan Ramos, a Lorain Democrat speaking for Democratic leadership, said Kasich and staff seemed to indicate in the press conference that about half of the state’s districts could see an increase in state aid and about half would see a decrease.
Ramos said he wants to see more details to be sure Kasich is not just shifting money around.
According to the governor, budget director Tim Kean and state Superintendent Richard Ross, here are the highlights:
- Increasing the base per-pupil state aid from $5,800 in FY 2015 to $5,900 in FY 2016 and $6,000 in FY 2017.
- Committing $10 billion to education, the state’s highest amount ever. We’ll be sorting out just what’s included in that total as soon as we can.
- Resuming controversial reductions in reimbursements to districts for the elimination of tangible personal property and utilities taxes that districts have depended on.
- Reducing both the “guarantee” and “cap” that limit how much a district’s state funding can change in each budget, so that the state’s ever-changing formula would determine more of their funding share.
- Adjusting the formula to account for a district’s “capacity” to raise money for schools through the strength of property tax base and income of residents.
Kasich does not break out changes in funding for charter schools vs. for traditional school districts.
That’s a big concern for Ramos. In Kasich’s last budget, increased money to charter schools meant many districts received less money – even some that had been promised they would see no cuts.
“The local schools don’t see much or all of it (an increase) if we’re giving some of it to vouchers and some to charters,” Ramos said. “The devil’s in the details.”
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