Chase Brown · July 30, 2018

Ohio 12 On The Issues: ECOT

The Ohio 12th Congressional District is not immune to the effects of the ECOT scandal. Plagued with allegations of improper campaign contributions, enrollment fraud, poor academic performance, and an outsized influence over state government – the now defunct school has become a pariah within the state. With voters in 7 counties headed to the polls on August 7th to elect their next representative to Congress, we put together a fact sheet about the impacts of the scandal on schools in the 12th district.

Key Facts

Overall, Ohio schools lost $590 million in funding to ECOT since 2012. In District 12, $105.8 million was diverted from traditional public schools to ECOT over the same period.
To make up for lost funding, schools in the 12th District were forced to raise $7.1 million in local property tax dollars to subsidize losses to ECOT since 2012.
GOP candidate for OH-12, Troy Balderson has taken $10,850 in campaign contributions from ECOT founder Bill Lager and ECOT lobbyists.
Danny O’Connor has not received campaign contributions from individuals related to ECOT.

District by District Funding Losses

Below are the amounts transferred to ECOT from traditional public school districts within Congressional District 12 in the six years beginning in 2012. Only districts with 10% or more of their area within the district are shown.

School District	Six-Year Total
LOUDONVILLE-PERRYSVILLE EX VILL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$290,498
BIG WALNUT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$699,803
COLONEL CRAWFORD LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$146,901
BUCKEYE VALLEY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$755,548
CARDINGTON-LINCOLN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$377,539
CENTERBURG LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$234,120
CLEAR FORK VALLEY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$322,874
COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$62,897,188
PICKERINGTON LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,893,354
WALNUT TOWNSHIP LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$377,070
DELAWARE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,235,565
DUBLIN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,034,643
EAST MUSKINGUM LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$408,464
ELGIN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$153,210
FRANKLIN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$548,100
GAHANNA-JEFFERSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,673,660
GALION CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$976,680
GRANVILLE EX VILL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$85,791
HEATH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$580,128
FREDERICKTOWN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$342,909
MOUNT VERNON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,590,207
HIGHLAND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$456,297
HILLIARD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,691,660
JOHNSTOWN-MONROE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$364,019
LAKEWOOD LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$419,091
LEXINGTON LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$643,067
LICKING HEIGHTS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,896,324
LICKING VALLEY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$177,765
JONATHAN ALDER LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$376,032
MADISON LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,602,237
MANSFIELD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$4,054,484
MAYSVILLE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$241,282
MORGAN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,250,852
MOUNT GILEAD EX VILL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$402,196
NEWARK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,862,686
NORTH FORK LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$423,721
NORTHERN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$455,142
NORTHMOR LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$315,768
NORTHRIDGE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$234,170
OLENTANGY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$603,908
TRI-VALLEY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$638,633
PLAIN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$267,510
PLEASANT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$150,513
NOBLE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$242,395
NEW LEXINGTON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,102,135
REYNOLDSBURG CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,220,537
RIVER VALLEY LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$295,346
SOUTHWEST LICKING LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,374,364
WEST MUSKINGUM LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$409,038
WESTERVILLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$3,997,740
WORTHINGTON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$2,176,859
ZANESVILLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,303,256
ONTARIO LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$389,266
FAIRBANKS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$127,720
MARYSVILLE EX VILL SCHOOL DISTRICT	$1,556,007