Experimenting with School Funding

During Voices & Choices the public made a clear call for educational excellence in Northeast Ohio. One of the major stumbling blocks toward improving our region's K-12 education has been developing a more effective (and legal) way to fund public schools in Ohio.

The present system of relying on property taxes has been ruled unconstitutional, but the state Legislature hasn't responded with an alternative. Frustration is mounting over the lack of action on this front and individuals are looking for alternatives. One proposal being floated is to have voters decide whether a sales tax could be used to fund education.

This is from an editorial in the Canton Repository:

Christopher Goff, a new member of the Jackson Local Board of Education, wants the Legislature to allow voters to decide whether a countywide sales tax should help to fund school operating expenses. Now, asking the Legislature to tackle anything with even a whiff of controversy attached during an election year is a dubious proposition. But Goff does have this in his corner: The Legislature has never hesitated to kick back to voters hard decisions about school funding. ... The state Legislature has shirked its duty to devise a new, constitutional funding formula for more than a decade. But local voters will always provide a share of funding directly to their own schools. They have few options now; they should have more. Good luck to Goff in attracting local as well as state interest in this idea.

The sales tax is just one of several ideas floating on how to improve our region's education system. Here's a wish that a few of these ideas gain some traction in 2008.