Cap hits central Ohio districts hard

When the House rolled out its state budget changes last week, it included a $20 per pupil increase for charter schools and $6 more for private schools, compared to Gov. John Kasich’s initial plan.

But for Olentangy Schools, which is adding students faster than any district in the state, the House changes meant only $5.50 more per pupil by 2019.

Julie Wagner Feasel, a veteran Olentangy school board member, saw it as another kick to a district whose per-pupil state

funding totals less than half of the roughly $1,200 the state pays to private schools.

Olentangy is supposed to get more. A lot more — about $80 million over the next two years, based on the state funding formula. But the district, like 133 others around the state, is subjected to an arbitrary funding cap that restricts its increase, regardless of enrollment growth.

“What is fair?” Wagner Feasel said. “Why do we even have a formula if we can never fund it?”

Generally, the point of a school-funding formula is to fairly distribute money so students, regardless of where they live, have access to a quality education. For decades, that means more money goes to districts with higher poverty, where students have more challenges and there is less ability to generate local revenue.

But under the funding plan pending in the Ohio House, nearly two-thirds of Ohio’s 600-plus districts over the next two years would not get the amount the formula says it should receive.

Some appreciate that — roughly 250 districts are on the “guarantee,” saved from deeper cuts by getting more than the formula prescribes.

On the other end, Kasich proposed capping funding increases at 5 percent per year, and the House raised it to 5.5 percent — lower than the 7.5 percent over the past two years.

The cap means districts over the next two years will not get about $890 million in state funding that funding formula says they are entitled to, according to analysis by the nonprofit Ohio Education Policy Institute.

The cap hits central Ohio schools especially hard — none harder than Columbus City Schools. If not for the cap, the district would get an additional $166 million over the next two years.

District Treasurer Stan Bahorek said the reduced funding is equivalent to Columbus getting no money for about 18,000 students. The 5.5 percent cap is lower than Columbus anticipated, prompting the district to delay filling 30 jobs.

Funding caps are generally set for two reasons: State officials don’t want to spend the additional money, or even if money is available, they don’t want to give an over-sized proportion of it to the state’s wealthier districts.

In total dollars, Olentangy is the second-hardest hit district in the state.

Wagner Feasel said she was hopeful that a proposal by a pair of Delaware County lawmakers would get into the budget, eventually guaranteeing public schools get at least as much per pupil as private schools. Kasich vetoed a similar budget proposal two years ago.

“I have to stick up for my voters who are saying, yes the governor thinks we can pay more, but we’ve paid for everything,” Wagner Feasel said. “And we spend less than the state average.”

Olentangy is way behind in state funding and has a legitimate gripe about its funding level compared to private schools, said Howard Fleeter, an analyst with the Education Policy Institute.

“The question is, in the triage that is our school funding formula right now, how far up the priority list does that rank” versus other funding losses, including those to low-wealth districts? Fleeter said.

According to 2016 state data, Olentangy has the highest median income in the state, and residents make among Ohio’s lowest school tax efforts, about half the state average.

“Olentangy has the capacity to pay more local taxes,” Fleeter said. “It’s hard for me to have sympathy for them on their tax effort.”

The cap impacts 14 of 16 districts in Franklin County, along with others in surrounding counties, including Marysville, Licking Heights, Newark, Heath and Lancaster.

The money Dublin has to go without — $22 million — is fifth-highest in the state. Treasurer Brian Kern said that is equal to more than 3.5 mills of property tax in a district whose residents get back 12 cents for every dollar they pay to the state.

“We understand it’s tough times for the state budget,” Kern said. “But if we could be fully funded, that would be a savings for our local residents.”

Fleeter said one idea is to increase the cap level for higher-growth districts like Olentangy and Dublin.

“It’s a matter of how much they are owed and how quickly they should get it,” he said.