Gov. John Kasich released his much-anticipated education plan last week – a plan he once boasted would be the best in the country. Its hallmark was the claim that it would fix Ohio’s disparity in property wealth by having the State pick up the cost to bring all districts up to $250,000 in per pupil valuation on 20 mills – a measure reached by just 4% of Ohio districts on their own.
It sounded great – nearly every district would get more money, and the poorest would get the most. He even received plaudits from many media members.
However, reality has proven otherwise. Looking at Kasich’s own district-by-district runs released yesterday, poor districts actually fare worse than wealthy. According to administration figures, for every dollar going to a kid in the property richest school districts, just 25 cents goes to the property poorest districts.
The top 1/3 of districts based on property wealth — or the ability to raise money on a mill — fare best under the Kasich plan, when comparing FY15 to FY13.[Read more…]
