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State Senators Make Changes To School Funding Plan

Conference call on school funding
Conference call on school funding

A bi-partisan bill to reform school funding is being introduced in the Ohio Senate. This plan is similar to one introduced in the House earlier. 

 This Senate plan makes some changesCupp-Patterson plan, which was developed by a bi-partisan task force. Republican Senator Peggy Lehner says it changes the formula to allow poor school districts to get more money. 

“This precisely captures the capacity of the local district to pay.” and is a reflection of the second central holding of DeRolph, that school funding must not produce an over-reliance on local property taxes," Lehner says.

Lehner says this satisfies the Ohio Supreme Court’s 1997 order that said the current formula is too reliant on local property taxes.  Co-sponsor Democratic Senator Vernon Sykes says the bill gives districts more compensation for various items outside of the base funding formula for things like transportation.  

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.