Ohio School Funding Ruled Still Unfair

Ohio’s system of paying for schools remains unconstitutional despite lawmakers’ attempts to fix it, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, giving the state more time to come up with a solution to the nearly decade-old case.

Justice Alice Robie Resnick said the state should be given the additional time because of progress made by the governor and Legislature.

“We acknowledge the effort that has been made and that a good faith attempt to comply with the constitutional requirements has been mounted, but even more is required,” Resnick wrote. “The process must continue.”

As in March 1997, the court found that an overreliance on local property taxes remains the “most glaring weakness” in the state’s attempts to establish a fairer funding system, Resnick said. The court held that an area’s wealth thus unfairly determined the quality of its schools.

Resnick, as part of a 4-3 majority, ordered more arguments in June 2001, when lawmakers must address several issues, including the reliance on property taxes as the primary means to finance schools, the way new school buildings are paid for and the use of an emergency fund for schools in financial trouble.

Gov. Bob Taft said Thursday that he appreciated the recognition of improvements made since the court’s original decision. He had no further comment.

Thursday’s decision was the latest development in a case that dates to December 1991, when the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding sued in Perry County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the Northern Local School District and others.

Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, a Republican, said she and state Senate President Richard Finan likely would appoint a House-Senate committee this month to study the court’s concerns and possible legislative remedies. Lawmakers are planning to begin their summer recess May 25.

Ben Espy of Columbus, a Democratic leader in the Senate, said lawmakers should skip their summer recess to address the court’s decision.

Taft and Republican leaders contend that the state has drafted a successful plan to pay for schools.

The court ordered the Legislature to address the schools’ undiminished reliance on local property taxes, which vary widely from county to county, giving wealthier districts better schools than poorer ones. In Ohio, 70 percent of all property taxes are allocated to public schools and that money has been the biggest source of school funding.

William Phillis, director of the group that filed the school funding lawsuit, asked the state on Thursday to work with the coalition to define what constitutes a thorough and efficient system and how much achieving it would cost.

“We’re willing to help, we’re willing to cheerlead, we’re willing to do anything to move this whole scenario forward,” Phillis said.