A panel convened by Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio issued 18 recommendations last week that it says would improve the way the state pays for public education.
“Building a Better School Funding System” is available online from the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success. ()
Among the proposals: revamp Ohio tax rules so that local districts can receive more basic aid from the state, target money to the neediest students and school districts, and pay for initiatives that support research related to academic success.
Four Ohio Supreme Court rulings have declared the current funding system unconstitutional, though the responsibility for a fix has been left to the legislature.
Gov. Taft convened the 35-member board in 2003 to examine the state’s complex funding system for its 613 school districts. The panel’s report was released Feb. 2.
