State: ECOT had no students its final year

Before ECOT went under in the middle of the 2017-18 school year, it asked the state for funding to cover 4,666 students.

With the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow’s track record in greatly inflating its actual enrollment, you may be interested to know how many of those students the state determined were actually documented as meeting state attendance requirements.

The answer: Not. A. Single. One.

Dispatch reporter Cathy Candisky turned up that amazing fact while researching a story about online schools’ liability to Ohio taxpayers.

The largely unnoticed shortfall resulted in the state adding about $44.6 million to the amount that the shuttered online charter school already owed Ohio taxpayers. The grand total: nearly $107 million.

Abusing tax breaks?

Speaking of issues important to taxpayers …

A nonprofit group, Policy Matters Ohio, last fall carefully documented how tens of thousands of well-off Ohio business owners are using special tax breaks to lower their taxable income to the point thatthey can claim benefits meant for lower-income Ohioans.

Examples include credits for senior citizens, child and dependent care, and joint filings of tax forms, along with personal exemptions.

Perhaps the most glaring abuse comes via the homestead exemption, which allows Ohioans making $32,800 or less to slice $25,000 off the value of their homes, thus lowering their local property tax bills. But under the current tax code, a homeowner could make $282,000, deduct $250,000 worth of business income as allowed under the tax breaks, leaving taxable income of $32,000 — and eligibility for the lessened property tax.

Yet not only have state officials done nothing about this sweet setup, but it alsoappears thatno legislator from either party has even introduced a proposal to undo this (presumably unanticipated) big legal tax break for business owners already enjoying a fully intended break totaling $1.3 billion every year.

Even former Gov. John Kasich — who signed the legislation granting the tax breaks to owners of such businesses as limited liability companies, S Corporations and passthrough entities — said just before leaving office that the loophole should be fixed.

Until it is, more affluent taxpayers will continue making off with an estimated total approaching $5 million a year intended for less fortunate Ohioans.

The Dems’ T-shirt tease

Ohio Democrats have no official favorite in the 2020 presidential race, and they hope to make money based on that fact.

The party is selling unisex white T-shirts emblazoned with the Democratic hopeful of your choice for $25 apiece. The latest version was trotted out Thursday afternoon — mere hours after northeast Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan declared his candidacy.

Before Ryan joined the crowded race, the sales leader was Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana. And the GOP’S hats tact

Let’s not leave Ohio Republicans out of the merchandise derby.

If you don’t want to spend $25 for your “Ohioans for Andrew Yang” T-shirt, you can use it to buy an “iconic” red Make America Great Again hat.

Or for a mere $40 you can get yourself a gray sweatshirt emblazoned with Buckeye Republican/raised Right— with the “right,” of course, emphasized.

‘Heartbeat bill’ moving

Speaker Larry Householder said the House likely would approve the so-called heartbeat bill by mid-april, and indeed the controversial measure is expected to get a final committee hearing and approval Tuesday before heading to a vote by the full chamber.

The proposal, which would make abortions in Ohio illegal once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, has been amended so the bill would go back to the Senate once the House OKS it.

Oh, and it’s now known as the “Human Rights Protection Act.”

drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland