The REAL state of school funding in Ohio
I am a resident of Medina County, a parent of two children who attend public schools, a veteran, a 7th grade history teacher, and I am the proud president of the Medina City Teachers Association. It is an honor to have this opportunity to speak before you today. I am here today on behalf of educators. I am here today to talk about the real state of school funding here in Ohio. In only four years, under Governor Kasich’s “careful planning,” ONE HALF OF ONE BILLION DOLLARS — that’s EIGHT zeros — have been taken from Ohio’s public schools. These cuts have drastically affected our children.
Fund Families Instead of the Common School System?
A member of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission indicated on August 8 that he wants school funds to be sent to families rather than school districts. The money-follows-the-child approach has been touted as a reform measure for several years. This idea/slogan, no doubt, has gained momentum by its frequent repetition by those who attempt to justify carving away the public common school system into the wood chips of education choice programs. Unless there is immediate push back to this privatization movement, the traditional public school districts will become a mere shell of the past.
