After reviewing Governor John Kasich’s new school funding plan, I must say it is a lot to digest on the surface. While it is encouraging that the Governor says that no district will receive less than it did in the current 2013 fiscal year. I think it is too early to tell if this helps or hurts the North Royalton City School District one way or the other. The details are always what counts with a budget proposal. A key piece of information that we don’t have yet are the simulations by district. Also there are some questions that I believe we need to ask. Will the Governor’s new school funding plan restore the $3 million dollars in cuts he and the General Assembly made under HB 153 the last state budget to our school district? Kasich is the fourth straight governor to propose a new school funding plan, what makes his plan constitutional to comply with decade old Ohio Supreme Court case DeRolph v. State? Finally, are the revenue sources stable enough to fully pay for this new plan? As the Board Legislative Liaison, I don’t plan to wait for an answer. I have plans to meet with our State Representative Mike Dovilla and other lawmakers. In addition I am working again with Cuyahoga Heights School Board Member Reno Contipelli and North Olmsted School Board Member Terry Groden to organize another Educational Roundtable Discussion for schools in Ohio’s 24th Senate District on the state budget. We plan to bring lawmakers here to engage in direct dialogue with key stakeholders to discuss how we move forward with this new school funding plan. The work has just begun!
To learn more about the Governor’s plan check out the link below:
http://www.governor.ohio.gov/PrioritiesandInitiatives/K12Education.aspx