School Funding | The Ohio Star

Government School Districts Plan K-12 Closures as Student Enrollment Plunges

February 14, 2023February 14, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Some of the largest public school districts in the nation are planning to close K-12 schools as they face plummeting student enrollment rates. “Nationwide, public school enrollment fell by more than 1.4 million students to 49.4 million between fall 2019 and fall 2020—a decline of roughly 3%, according to data from the U.S. Education Department,” reported the Wall Street Journal in January. “The following school year, enrollment failed to return to prepandemic levels and remained roughly flat.”

Ohio Senate Voting on Budget Bill, Restricted Abortions

June 10, 2021June 9, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

The Ohio Senate is set to vote on its version of the state’s two-year, $75 billion budget.

The main items in the Senate’s budget plan, which is similar to the budget on which the Ohio House voted in April, are an income tax cut, along with increased school funding.

New Ohio School Funding Plan Goes Before Legislature

November 9, 2020November 8, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

Calling the way Ohio funds public schools unpredictable, confusing and inadequate, Ohio lawmakers want to overhaul the system with a formula that could mean a $1.99 billion increase in funding. Changes could come sooner rather than later.

State Sens. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, and Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, introduced a bill Thursday that teams with a current house bill. It would change how the state determines the cost of educating a student, along with how the state decides how much a local district should contribute to that cost.

New Ohio School Funding Plan Goes Before Legislature

November 7, 2020November 6, 2020 The Center Square

District Court Blocks Betsy DeVos COVID Rule on Private School Funds

August 29, 2020August 28, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

A judge blocked an Education Secretary Betsy DeVos policy on Wednesday that transfers COVID-19 relief funds from public school districts to private schools, Politico reported.

U.S. District Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction for the plaintiffs, order Thursday, blocking release of additional relief funding to private schools.

Buckeye Institute Files Amicus Brief in Lawsuit Over CARES Act School Funding

August 27, 2020August 26, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

An Ohio think tank has entered the fray in a federal lawsuit over a rule the U.S. Department of Education issued for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding.

The $2.2 trillion CARES Act includes an Education Stabilization Fund to help schools cover costs to safely reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The law directed the education department to distribute these funds “equitably” between public and private schools and students.

Analysis: The School Funding Inequity Farce

November 27, 2019November 26, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

Leading presidential candidates and major media outlets are claiming that school districts with high concentrations of minorities and poor children generally receive less funding per student than other districts. That hasn’t been true for at least half a century, but people are spreading this myth through deceptive studies that exclude federal funds.