The Plain Dealer

1/17/2007

Never have the prospects for Ohio school funding reform looked more promising.

The state has a new governor committed to reform and many lawmakers at least willing to consider it.

So, with the conditions ripe for reform, along comes the movement’s most ardent advocates to mount their latest self-defeating stunt. Not only have reform advocates crafted a plan that comes without a price tag, they’ve managed to alienate a handful of well-intentioned, big-city mayors who were once their allies.

Their destructive handiwork comes in the form of a lengthy constitutional amendment that would guarantee each public school student in the state “the opportunity for a High Quality Public Education.” The provision would create an accountability commission to report on whether the state is spending as much as it should, while another commission would work with the State Board of Education to determine just how much to spend. Lawmakers would have substantially less influence, unless they could muster three-fifths majorities in each house to override the recommendations of the so-called experts.

The irony of this proposal is that it injects controversy where consensus had finally begun to emerge. During last year’s campaign for governor, both Republican Ken Blackwell and Democrat Ted Strickland acknowledged the need for school funding reform. Once elected, Strickland cited the issue as his top priority and pledged to work with lawmakers this session to craft a solution. Republican legislators agreed to consider thoughtful proposals.

Strickland has wisely stopped short of embracing the constitutional amendment being floated by advocates of reform. Instead, the governor and his staff have reiterated that his focus is on working with the legislature to develop a meaningful funding plan. Strickland also has targeted the most obvious failing of the existing system - one repeatedly decried in the Supreme Court’s rulings that deemed it unconstitutional: The state’s heavy reliance on local property taxes perpetuates inequities among school districts with widely varying tax bases.

Columbus is primed for a constructive debate about how to create a fair, effective funding system. By trotting out this amendment now as a fait accompli, education advocates essentially have pulled themselves out of that process.

So, while the reform movement’s so-called leaders comb the state seeking signatures for a doomed ballot issue, Strickland and legislators should work at crafting a fair funding system that could also improve student achievement. Keeping the state’s most misguided advocates on the road may be the best chance Ohio has to meet that lofty goal.

© 2007 The Plain Dealer

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