Rep. Robinson applauds House passage of bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan
COLUMBUS— State Rep. Phil Robinson (D-Solon) yesterday voted in favor of the Fair School Funding Plan, House Bill (HB) 305, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson), Rep. Gary Scherer (R-Circleville) and Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima), that would transform the way Ohio’s schools are funded.
“The funding model in HB 305 will better reflect costs of educating our children. It does this by moving away from property taxes being at the center of the funding system. This gets us much closer to equal funding for each child while not ignoring that every school district and student has different needs.
HB 305 ends the bad practice of public school districts’ budgets funding charter schools and private school vouchers by having the state fund them directly instead, no longer pitting schools against each other,” said Rep. Robinson.
Some of the major factors the new system will take into account for school districts’ funding, when calculating the base cost, state and local share, and categorical aid include:
- Student-teacher ratios and school staff size,
- School staff salaries and professional development,
- Career readiness education,
- Student’s social and emotional needs,
- Residents’ wealth and poverty levels,
- Preschool services,
- Special and gifted education,
- English language learners,
- STEM and technical education
Democratic lawmakers have long fought to reform the state’s school funding formula, which the Ohio Supreme Court has found unconstitutional four times, beginning with the DeRolph decision in 1997.
“School funding reform is a difficult and complex issue, but it is something I ran on when I was first elected. I’m glad I could help advance and be part of a bipartisan solution that has been decades in the work.
I now call on the Senate to do the right thing and pass Fair School Funding Plan. The legislature can’t put this off anymore,” added Rep. Robinson.