© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Architects of School Funding Overhaul Plan Speak Out

Former State Rep. John Patterson and others who crafted plan
Jo Ingles
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Former State Rep. John Patterson and others who crafted plan

The Ohio House and Senate are now considering different versions of school funding plans as part of the upcoming state budget. Some of the members of a bipartisan group that created a school funding plan that was considered in the legislature last year want to refocus lawmakers on the proposal. 

Former Democratic House Member John Patterson sponsored the plan with current Republican Speaker Bob Cupp. Patterson says that school funding overhaul, developed with input from a non-partisan panel, focuses on fair funding and solves problems of over-reliance on property taxes.

He says the Senate plan abandons much of his group’s plan because lawmakers are afraid it won’t be flexible enough should the state encounter unknown financial problems in the future.

“This is affordable. It is sustainable. And when it needs to be, it’s scalable," Patterson said.

Patterson and members of his group say they are willing to work with the conference committee as it considers education funding in the new two-year budget.

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.