Programs Cut From State Senate's Budget Have Uphill Battle

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- How do you cut $2.5 billion from a state budget? It's a question Ohio lawmakers will try to find an answer to over the next 18 days.

The budget written by Gov. Ted Strickland and approved by the House is out. Lawmakers would have had to cut more than $3 billion from that plan. Instead, the state Senate's more conservative budget will be used as the starting point as deeper, more painful cuts begin. That means many programs and the people who depend on them already know they're in jeopardy.

Legislators will need to trim about $2.5 billion from the budget and it does not include funding for the Closing The Achievement Gap initiative. The Senate plan took nearly $1 million away from the effort to help teens like Ty're Murray.

"I got a job now. I'm working. I'm making good money. I'm happy," Murray said. "I would love for this program to stay, because if it were to go away, people wouldn't feel like I feel. They wouldn't be as happy as I am. I want people to feel how I feel."

He credits Program Coordinator Bryan Cunningham's support and positive feedback with helping him change his attitude, control his emotions and stop missing school.

"It makes me want to do something with my life. It makes me want to get out there and do what I'm doing now," Murray said.

The expense of tutoring, mentoring and providing work training for kids like Ty're is a lot less than the alternative, Cunningham said.

"You can either send them to the state (penitentiary) or to Ohio State," Cunningham said. "The possibility of them going a negative direction, it's going to cost us a lot more in the long run if we don't take care of it now."

Another example is Lamar Turner, who skipped school roughly 100 days during his eighth-grade year. Now, he credits the Closing The Achievement Gap program for helping him turn his life around.

"Now I'm on super honor roll and going on college tours. This program has changed my whole perception of life, shown me what's important," Turner said.

But faced with a funding cut, Cunningham is preparing to turn in his laptop and files, if the cuts are approved, he would lose his job at the end of the month, but he said his biggest concern is what will happen to the kids he looks after.

A similar program on the chopping block is the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, which argues its programs save more money than they spend.

Executive Director Maria Mone explained that the commission counsels children and parents on truancy, bullying and other problem areas before the child lands in legal trouble.

Also hit hard is the Ohio Historical Society, which is set to lose $2 million in funding for teacher training and other programs.

The governor's plan to change how schools are funded also is in jeopardy, as are healthcare initiatives that would have provided insurance coverage to 110,000 adults who aren't covered.

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