HOLLAND, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers are renewing a proposal from last year to overhaul how Ohio schools receive state funding.
The state Supreme Court ruled the current formula unconstitutional back in 1997. Since then, there have been some temporary fixes but no comprehensive solution.
Many school district leaders, including Springfield Local Schools, said they benefit from the new plan.
"Since we're capped, we only get about 66% of the formula the state says we should get," Springfield superintendent Matt Geha said.
Springfield local is just one of many school districts across the state with a cap on its state funding. Basically, this means the district doesn't receive all the funding it's owed under the formula for each student.
"Springfield gets about $2,300 per student and in the area, that's the floor," Geha added.
While some districts are capped, others receive more money than the formula calls for in the form of guarantees. Officials said this broken formula creates artificial winners and losers.
The so-called Cupp-Patterson plan, named after bill creators Rep. Bob Cupp, R-Lima, and Rep. John Patterson, D-Jefferson, would eliminate these and create a formula based on how much a district needs to educate a child.
"A principal, a teacher, a counselor, a bus driver, a custodian," Geha said. "So, it puts all of that science to each individual child and then the dollars are allotted that way."
Geha stressed the current formula has no rhyme or reason. He believes the funding formula needs to be fixed first before addressing other programs like the state's controversial voucher program, EdChoice.
"You can't talk about EdChoice without talking about equitable school funding at the same time," Geha said. "So, we want to help support any legislator that will work to create a funding model that helps all public schools."
Geha believes the public school system will look a lot better in 10 years if this bill passes.
"With a corrected model in support of public ed, you'll see a lot of additional resources for every kid, for every single kid," he said.
The community can sound off on this issue at a town hall on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at Bowling Green High School.