GOP Lawmaker Wary Of School-Funding Plan

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A Republican state lawmaker said Wednesday that proposed House changes to Governor Ted Strickland’s school-funding plan could be an indication of how the state would handle federal stimulus money.  Rep. Ron Amstutz, the ranking GOP member on the House Finance Committee, expressed concern with the House proposals a day before they were to be released.  “This is only a preview of the type of issues we will see in two years as the federal stimulus funds disappear,“ Amstutz said.  He also was critical of how House Democrats have managed the issues, saying “the (school) plan is an example of the House Democrats following Governor Strickland’s lead by residually budgeting the education of Ohio’s children. In fact, it seems they are still running the numbers to counter balance other costly changes.“
   
Rep. Steve Dyer, who chairs the budget subcommittee on primary and secondary schools, said House Democrats moved a news conference from Wednesday to Thursday because they wanted to make certain their district-by-district calculations were correct.  Dyer confirmed the House plan would include new caps on how much each district can gain under a new state formula, an increase in the average teacher salary used to calculate district payouts, and a phase-in of six rather than two years for reducing districts’ local share of school costs.
   
A cap of 1.9 percent - versus the 15 percent in 2010 and 16 percent in 2011 that Strickland’s budget proposed - would help reduce big payouts going to some of the state’s wealthiest school districts under a new state-funding formula. Taking longer to take on a larger state share of education expenses would also save state money.  The House needs the added revenue from the twin proposals partly to offset more than $900 million in federal stimulus money that was initially budgeted to go into the state general revenue fund. Instead, the money will go directly to districts through a federal formula.  Dyer said the added time was not being used to fudge any numbers. He said House Democrats were simply reviewing input from a variety of sources, including the Office of Budget and Management and the Legislative Service Commission.  “That $922 million is still going to go to districts and charters, not subject to any caps,“ he said. “So there’s no limit on how much more it’s going to be for them. Districts will be capped by the state at 2 percent, but they may get a 10 or 15 percent increase based on federal funds.“

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