New Policy reports identify two major changes needed to successfully reform Ohio's unconstitutional school funding system.
"The Importance of Costing out a Quality Education in Ohio: Why Evidence-based should be Ohio's Choice" identifies an evidence-based model as the best method for determining school funding levels for Ohio.
As Ohio again embarks on fixing its school funding system, it is clear that a costing-out model must be a central part of the effort to satisfy the mandates of the DeRolph rulings and public perception. The question then becomes which costing-out model will yield the best result for Ohio. The evidence-based model offers Ohio the best opportunity to benefit from an objective, research-rich approach to determine what is needed to provide a thorough and effective education system.
"Property Taxes for Funding Public Education: Ohio's Unique Method for Controlling Tax Increases" explains unintended consequences of the property tax restrictions created by House Bill 920 and possible solutions.
This report examines the origins and effects of Ohio’s unique system of adjustments to control year-to-year property tax increases – tax reduction factors commonly called House Bill 920. Over the years, much attention has been paid to this provision of state tax law that was later added to the Ohio Constitution, but little has been done to address its negative effects on Ohio school districts.
News release
New policy reports outline needed
changes in Ohio school funding system
Jan. 26, 2009: As Gov. Ted Strickland prepares to unveil proposals for improving
public education in his State of the State address Wednesday, two policy
reports released today identify major changes needed to successfully reform Ohio's
unconstitutional school funding system.
The reports from two Ohio
education organizations underscore the need for the state to:
- adopt a method for estimating adequate funding
for education that relies on research into successful practices, an approach
known as the evidence-based model for costing out.
- ease the harmful effects on school
districts of property tax restrictions created by House Bill 920, while keeping
some protection for property owners against unvoted tax increases.
KnowledgeWorks Foundation, a
Cincinnati-based education philanthropy, released the report urging the adoption
of an evidence-based model for setting education spending levels.
KnowledgeWorks and the Education Tax Policy
Institute, a Columbus group that analyzes tax policy
affecting education funding, released the report outlining the deficiencies in
the state's property tax provisions.
"Addressing these two areas of school funding will be essential
to creating a system that provides schools with adequate resources," said
Andrew Benson, who leads KnowledgeWorks' School Funding Matters
initiative. "If Ohio
is to prepare all its children to succeed in the 21st century, we must direct
resources toward strategies that are proven to work and we must give schools a
reliable stream of revenue that eliminates the need for excessive numbers of
levies."
An evidence-based approach to costing
out school funding
One of the two policy reports, entitled, "The
Importance of Costing out a Quality Education in Ohio: Why Evidence-based Should
be Ohio's Choice" cites
shortcomings of the current building blocks method for deciding how much to
budget for education and surveys alternatives used by other states.
The research identifies an evidence-based model similar to that used in
Wisconsin, Arkansas
and Washington as the best fit for Ohio, calling it
"an objective, research-based approach."
An evidence-based model would:
-
Identify what it takes to
dramatically improve student performance, which in other states has included such things as a rigorous curriculum program;
intensive professional development for teachers, including school-based instructional
coaches; strategies to help struggling students, including academically focused
extended-day and summer school programs for some; and class sizes of no more
than 15 in grades K-3
-
Cost out those strategies. The evidence-based model would provide current
estimates of the most reasonable cost for such strategies, which could be used
as a starting point for budgeting decisions.
-
Include an accountability system. This approach would establish
constraints and hold students, teachers, schools and districts appropriately
accountable for results, ensuring that districts used resources for the most
effective strategies.
Benson said the model would help the state make sound funding
decisions. "In today's difficult economic environment, research can
tell us how to direct our limited resources to have the greatest effect on
student performance."
Easing effects of HB 920 to reduce
need for levies
A second report addresses provisions of Ohio property tax law known as House Bill
920, which were enacted in 1976 to protect taxpayers from rapid increases in property
taxes. The limits created under HB 920 have resulted in Ohio having more school levies on the ballot
than any other state: more than 9,800 operating levies over 31 years.
In "Property
Taxes for Funding Public Education: Ohio's Unique Method for Controlling
Tax Increases," school funding expert William Driscoll explains unintended
consequences of those provisions, including how they interact with the state
funding formula to create a phenomenon called "phantom revenue"
that reduces state aid to districts.
The report indicates that House Bill 920's effort to control tax
increases by making local governments accountable to voters and the resulting push
for additional tax levies have in effect cancelled each other out. Despite the
enormous expense of time and energy on school levy campaigns, taxpayers on
average pay approximately what they would have if House Bill 920 had never been
passed.
The report concludes, "Alternative limitations on automatic tax
increases could strike a better balance between accountability and moderate
growth in tax revenue, especially in the case of school districts."
Benson said education stakeholders across
the state are optimistic that Strickland's attention to the school
funding issue will result in positive changes. "As Ohio takes up the question of how to create
a school funding system that is both adequate and fair, we urge state leaders
to consider these two vital changes - changes that will ensure that our
investment in education is both efficient and effective."