COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Facing a budget deficit in the billions of dollars, just about every department, agency and organization that receives state funding faces cuts of some sort.
That’s the case at the Ohio Historical Society, and officials there say if the cuts become reality, it likely would impact the education your child receives at school.
Chances are you've seen them; they're just about everywhere: Ohio Historical markers that display a brief history lesson about a significant place, event or person that made Ohio what it is today.
During the last 51 years, 1,289 markers have been planted in the ground across the state.
“It's a great way just to tell the story of the fabric of how this state was created,” said Bill Laidlaw, director of the Ohio Historical Center.
But the Ohio Historical Markers program is one of several programs that soon may be history itself.
Laidlaw said that’s if a budget bill passed by the Ohio Senate last week becomes law.
“It's just going to be devastating for us,” he said.
Laidlaw said, according to the proposal, funding for the historical society would be slashed by 26 percent -- from roughly $13.5 million two years ago to $10 million for fiscal year 2010.
“We won't be able to do things like teacher-training programs. We teach about 500 teachers a year how to teach social studies and history throughout the state, markers, history day, a lot of things. Civil War sesquicentennial that we're getting ready for, just will be out the window,” Laidlaw said. “The bottom line is we’re a critical part of the education system of the state. History and social studies would not be taught as well as it is now if it weren’t for the services we provide as a private, not-for-profit organization.”
He said OHS already has reduced staff by half and cautioned it may not stop there.
“The conference committee has the assignment of taking another $ 1 billion out of the budget. So we don't know it could affect us. So it could get worse.”
But the society isn’t taking the proposed cuts sitting down.
On Thursday it’s holding a rally at the Ohio Historical Center to protest.
Meanwhile, officials with the Ohio Senate said lawmakers began the budget process $1 billion in the red and as difficult as these decisions are to make, they are necessary.
They added similar cuts were made virtually across the board.
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