BUMPED AND CLARIFIED: Per the requests of several commenters, I'm elevating this entry again with the full text of the Educate Ohio Amendment, now available online.
The following action alert is part of my ongoing series, America's Democratic Values
For myriad reasons, Ohio is a state in very dire straits. Led by an inept, Republican governor, Bob Taft, and in conjunction with an ineffective legislature, Ohio is unmistakably on the decline.
Thanks to hateful, discriminatory measures like Issue 1 - a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage - and a lack of adequate opportunities, talented, young Ohioans are fleeing the state for far greener pastures. At the origin of this destructive brain drain is a terribly flawed public education system.
While every young Ohio deserves an excellent education, the reality is that there are two Ohios - an Ohio where students in well-to-do areas receive quality educations and an Ohio where young people whose only crime was being born in a disadvantaged area receive lesser educations. Ohio's method of funding public education - overwhelmingly via property taxes - has fed this monster.
Ruled unconstitutional four times in 10 years, the funding system hurts many young Ohioans' chances while at the same time placing an ever-growing burden on the state's taxpayers.
While the state government does nothing to remedy the Ohio Supreme Court's rulings, districts must pass property tax levies to fund their public schools. Meanwhile, the Republican-led state government is purposely doing nothing to fix the situation, not acting on the rulings and going so far as to recommend further property taxes, extending average Ohioans even more.
Those who would prefer children attend private schools are doing nothing, as are those who feel that no solution exists or that feel any piece of legislation would "rob from the rich and give to the poor."
One Ohioan, former Democratic State Rep. Bryan Flannery, has a solution, a measure that embodies the American value of a high quality public education: The Educate Ohio Amendment. And he needs our help.
Plainly put, the amendment to the state constitution makes education a fundamental right, one that is available to every student, regardless of socioeconomic status. It forces the state to confront the funding of public education head on and also reduces the skyrocketing tax burden nearly every Ohioan faces. Most importantly, it allows our teachers to focus on teaching - not on raising money.
How does Educate Ohio work? The answer is, "As easy as 1-2-3." First, the amendment establishes the Ohio Educational Opportunities Commission, whose job would entail identifying - every two years - the "components of high quality educational opportunities" for every student, no matter their special needs. Second, it would require the State Board of Education to conduct expert analyses to determine the cost of these components. Third, and finally, it would require the government to fund this total - minus a greatly reduced property tax. No districts would see a reduction in funding. Many would see an increase. If a district would want to increase programming beyond the defined high quality level, it could still do so using the traditional means. Many Ohioans - in a move sure to please even the most rabidly anti-public education Republicans - would benefit from a much smaller property tax. The state would also benefit from the amendment, as stronger public schools would ensure a more prepared next generation, one that would be more likely to remain in Ohio, earning more money, if increased opportunities persist.
It's that simple.
Why an amendment and not a piece of state-sponsored legislation? Because as the last 10-plus years have proven, Ohio's apathetic state legislature has not taken action to remedy a situation in a proven crisis. Educate Ohio puts the future of the state in the hands of those to whom it matters most - the people.
That's where you come in: In order for the amendment to reach a statewide vote, the proposal's petition must receive nearly 350,000 valid signatures (those by a registered voter) by August. This is a tight deadline, to be sure, but one we could meet with some dedication. To do so, Educate Ohio is helping Ohioans make the push by empowering them to be local signature seekers. To learn how you can help and to learn more about this much-needed solution, visit Educate Ohio's Web site. To download the petition, click here.
Beginning in part with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that prompted the legislature to "encourage schools and the means of instruction," a high quality public education has been an American value. Thanks to progressive leaders like Flannery, Ohio can come full-circle and ensure a bright future for every Ohioan, not just for the privileged few. And you can help make it happen.
Here's the full text of the Educate Ohio Amendment:
Be it resolved by the people of the State of Ohio:
Article VI, Section 7
Every school-age child in Ohio has a fundamental right, enforceable in the courts of Ohio, to a high quality public education. In order to protect this right and enforce state compliance with the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of Article VI of this constitution, there is hereby established the Ohio educational opportunities commission ("commission"). The commission shall be composed of nineteen members, appointed by the governor, representing the diverse geographic regions and educational needs of Ohio, eleven of whom shall be employed as educators in school districts with publicly elected boards of education. The terms of commission members shall not be more than four years.
The commission shall biennially identify the educational components for high quality educational opportunities, predicated on high academic standards and research-based best practices, for all public school students at each instructional level and by type, meaning regular, special, and vocational/technical education and gifted, disadvantaged and other special needs students. The components shall include those learning opportunities, services, educational resources, transportation services, facilities, and interscholastic and co-curricular activities necessary to prepare students to function at the highest level of their abilities in post-high school educational programs and to successfully earn a suitable livelihood and shall, together with such additional requirements as imposed by law, represent the minimum levels of educational opportunities to which all students have a fundamental right. The first such determination of educational components for high quality educational opportunities shall be made within six months after the effective date of this amendment.
The state board of education shall biennially conduct expert studies and establish the total actual costs of the educational components for high quality educational opportunities identified by the commission together with the cost of all other requirements imposed by law and shall certify such costs to the general assembly. An inferential method shall not be used to establish such costs. The first determination of the total actual costs shall be made within fifteen months after the effective date of this amendment. The general assembly shall biennially provide funds to each school district equal to one hundred percent of the total actual costs as certified minus the proceeds from fifteen mills of local property taxes allowed by Section 8 of this Article.
Article VI, Section 8
All real property tax millage for school district current expenses exceeding fifteen mills of valuation as determined under current assessment and valuation laws as of January 1, 2005 shall be discontinued effective with the appropriations required by Article VI, Section 7 of this amendment. No school district shall receive a per pupil level of funding in any fiscal year less than that received in combined state revenue and local school district property taxes for current expenses during the most recent fiscal year prior to the first appropriation made pursuant to this amendment.
In no way am I affiliated with Educate Ohio other than as a concerned citizen and son of a teacher myself who thinks that common-sense change is long overdue.
