The history of Ohio School Funding

Ohio's school funding stems from the Northwest territory and has been a long process to the present. The state of Ohio still has a way to go before the way schools are funded is concrete and equal for all. Here is a short timeline from past to present.

1821		Ohio levies its first property tax.
1846		The Rev. Isaac Jennings of Akron leads a committee that develops a plan to run and finance the city's public schools. The Akron School Plan - which created school districts governed by a locally elected board and financed by property taxes - remains largely in effect today.
1935		Ohio enacts a 3 percent sales tax, boosting state support for schools to nearly 50 percent of districts' operating costs.
1971		Ohio enacts its first income tax, with a portion going to primary and secondary education.
1975		Ohio creates the equal-yield formula, which tries to close the financing gaps between rich and poor school districts.
1976		Lawmakers pass House Bill 920, which prohibits property tax collections from rising with inflation.
1979		The Ohio Supreme Court upholds the state school-funding system, rejecting a challenge filed by the Cincinnati school district.
1980		State lawmakers create emergency loan fund and prohibit school districts from closing for financial reasons, forcing troubled districts to go deeper into debt; eliminate equal-yield formula.
1984		Legislators approve Gov. Richard Celeste's proposal for a 10-year, phased-in reduction of the tangible property tax and pass bill guaranteeing that lottery profits go to education.
1992		Gov. George Voinovich, in his 1992-93 biennial state budget, creates the equity fund for poorer schools.
1994		Perry County Common Pleas Judge Linton Lewis Jr. rules against Ohio's school-funding system, but is later overruled by a higher court.
1997		Ohio Supreme Court declares system of school funding unconstitutional.
1998		Legislature and Voinovich enact new funding plan. Voters defeat half-percent sales tax and a proposal to sell bonds for school construction to pay for it. Coalition of schools returns to court, arguing that the solution was inadequate.
1999		Lewis rejects state's response.

(from http://www.aproundtable.org/issues/sfund/timeline.html )

Recent Events in Ohio School Funding

In 1991, the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding, representing more than five hundred school districts in Ohio, filed suit in the Perry County courts against the State of Ohio for failing to provide adequate funding to educate the state's students. The case was known as DeRolph v. State of Ohio and was named for Nathan DeRolph, a student in the Sheridan High School, in the Northern Local School District in Perry County. This began an over 10 year battle for equality in education funding in Ohio. There have been a total of 4 DeRolph decisions. The first two stated both times that the way schools are funded is in violation of the Ohio constitution. The third decision state that Ohio was on the right track which was followed by the fourth decision which nullified the third and stated that the Supreme Court would no longer be involved with the reformation of the funding issue. With the election of the new governor, Ted Strickland, a new movement was created called the Education Institute that is a group of educators, administrators, parents, community businesses, community business partners, and lawmakers. The institute was created to not only find a solution to the problem, but to revamp the vision and direction of Ohio's schools. On a related path, a study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Ohio's education system can be found at the Ohio Department of Education's website on creating a world class education system in Ohio.