Governor's school funding bamboozle

Yesterday, finally, the Governor released his district by district breakdown of school funding. To say that the numbers didn't reflect the rhetoric given at the rollout would be quite the understatement. During the rollout the Governor and his education advisors led everyone to believe that funding levels would be based upon district property wealth and income. The breakdowns produced however show almost the opposite.

David Varda, executive director of the Ohio School Business Officials Association, said he suspects many school officials in poor districts expected more state aid under Kasich’s plan.

“Based on the premise that this funding was going to deal with disparity, I’m surprised by some of the lower-wealth districts not getting any increase while some higher-wealth districts are getting more, although they seem to be districts with growing enrollment,” Varda said.

If districts were expecting more, the vast majority are going to be greatly disappointed. We looked at the percentage funding increase being offered for 2014 and produced the following chart

As you can see from this chart, 396 of 614 districts received zero extra dollars for 2014. When one factors in inflation, the number grows in real terms to over 400. Worse still, the funding data released by the Governor does not include money that districts will lose to charter schools and voucher recipients - in 2012 that was over $700 million in Ohio.

The Governor had promised $1.2 billion in extra funding, but when totaling the increases for 2014 and 2015 we can only count to $563,713,406. Even accounting for the $300 million "Straight A fund" we're struggling to see how we get to the promised $1.2 billion

In order to explain this bizare school funding formula, the Governor's education advisors had to resort to even more bizarre word games with reporters

Kasich education policy advisor Barbara Mattei-Smith said that’s because school districts that many people think of as “poor” are not actually poor for the purposes of determining state funding under the Kasich plan.
[...]
Kasich education advisor Dick Ross said, while the funding estimates may surprise some, they represent “reality.”

“Maybe the perception needs to be recognized as not being what’s real,” he said.

What is real is the ongoing underinvestment in Ohio's public schools by this Governor. The numbers, which he was reluctant to release, speak for themsevles.

Note to teachers: Thanks for loving our kids

Dear Teachers,

This is the first of much correspondence you'll receive from us this year.

We'll write to beg for an extension on our children's math assignment.

"Soccer practice went late last night and there was no time for homework and we're sure you'll understand because it's Jake's first year in select and it really matters."

We'll scribble a note to ask that you move our sensitive Lucy away from domineering Evelyn - but not near chatty Suzy and as far away as possible from mean Renee.

We will write to remind you of our children's orthodontist appointments, allergy shots, physical therapy sessions for the torn ACL, early dismissals every Thursday so we can get them to ballet classes on the other side of town.

And please note that Aaron will be gone the entire week after Thanksgiving since we couldn't schedule our winter vacation any other time.

We'll email a request for extra science homework for our Anthony, who you'll recall is gifted. But could you lighten up on that weekly vocabulary list? Asking fifth-graders to remember eight definitions every week is just too stressful.

[readon2 url="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110818/COL01/108190332/Note-teachers-Thanks-loving-our-kids?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CColumnists%7Cp"]Continue reading (the pay off is great) ...[/readon2]

Civic Investment and the 'Skyboxing' of Education

Sadly, the public education your child gets often is only as good as the public education you and your community can afford. When state funding cuts put a popular program or teacher or even a planned building at risk, parents and boosters sometimes are asked to step in, reach out, and come up with money to fill the gap. Depending upon the wealth of the community, parents, boosters, and organizations often can offset some of the lost funding. However, no amount of private capital can replace the public funds and civic support lost through budget cuts.

Of course, not every community is able to raise private funds to help. And the level of need varies from school to school and community to community. A wealthy school district may need only new landscaping. Many districts, however, particularly those with significant populations of low-income families, don’t have enough textbooks or well-trained teachers.

In recent years, we’ve been witnessing the “skyboxing” of American education. Like their socioeconomic peers at ballgames, students in education skyboxes are buffered from realities most students face by their well-appointed educational accommodations: “Need an extra AP program? Right away, sir. Would you like an International Baccalaureate with that?” Meanwhile, the vast majority of students sit in the equivalent of bleacher seats, or they are stuck behind a pillar, squinting to see their teachers in overcrowded classrooms.

[readon2 url="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/06/24/36riley.h30.html?tkn=SZQFXaFDPGAoclN4rZXeAxL2DJVD5kktPNVy&cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1"]Continue reading...[/readon2]