http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/25/15-years--no-school-funding-fix.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/04/20/revisiting-derolph.html
The issue touched on this week is Ohio's system of school funding. In 1991, the second article points out that the controversial words "thorough and efficient" have caused a system of school funding that is primarily based off property taxes. This system has been ruled unconstitutional four times and has led to an incredibly wide range of disparity in the quality of education offered inside the state. It has led to district battles for the approval of emergency levies to continue education as usual. It has created wealthy districts that are miles away from districts that are underfunded and overpopulated.
Clearly, money isn't the complete reason for quality education inside of a school system. Many factors contribute to the success of young adults among which are curriculum, teaching expertise, parental involvement, etc. However, money is a powerful resource that can attract skilled teachers, provide resources for students inside the system and create staff-pupil ratios that promote academic excellence. Until school funding is repaired, these inequalities will needlessly exist and larger, poor districts will continually remain a step behind wealthier districts. I do not pretend to have any concept of a possible solution to resolve these issues.
On an anecdotal level, this was my experience on a small scale. I attended Columbus public schools and what I witnessed spoke to the issues surrounding school funding. The Columbus public property taxes are dispersed to over 70 schools and many of them are run down, old, and simply underfunded. It was evident that the schools I attended and played sports in were woefully maintained. This contrast was especially clear when comparing Columbus Public to the surrounding districts. Upper Arlington, New Albany, Bexley and Dublin were all within a fifteen minute drive of Columbus Public schools and were tremendously wealthier. This vast difference in wealth only reinforces stereotypes of "city kids" and can do nothing but hinder long term goals and perceptions. I'm passionate about this issue because education plays such a vital roll in the outcome of individuals and until this issue is fixed, students' projections will be negatively affected.
I'm glad someone posted on this topic because it is such a ridiculous system. I come from a school district where the majority of the people living in the district were elderly and no longer had children going through school, so they would continuously vote down levies even though we had a high school with asbestos and a basement that would flood in the face of any precipitation. Eventually, a levy passed and a new school was built, but since then, without being able to pass additional levies, they've needed to cut down faculty. I really think the problem comes down to class division and people not wanting to help each other. It seems that it should be easy for the state to simply collect all the funding and evenly distribute it based on district population, but the wealthier districts may view that as a handout to less wealthy districts. Although, I may just be overly cynical.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post. I live in a community in which property taxes are extremely high in order to better fund the school system. The reason we live in our community is so that my children can receive a college prep education. With that said, when they graduate, we will definitely be selling our house. In the meantime, I would prefer to have my taxes help fund other school districts such as Columbus City Schools so that all children can have healthy learning environments rich in knowledge and good teachers. The government and school districts should collaborate. I would love to see districts unite.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Adam, I went to a school district that thankfully was home to a lot of children so levies usually passed. However, there was one school district in particular who never passed a levy for a very long time but desperately needed it. They no longer had space inside the school building so they actually rented out trailers for classroom instruction. They are finally in the process of building new schools and I wonder if the same thing will happen where they will have to cut down staff due to not being able to pass any more levies.
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