Education Roundtable Discusses School Funding in Ohio

On Thursday, members of the education community gathered to discuss the intersection between budgets and taxes both statewide and locally. To see results locally, panel members said Ohio legislation needs to make changes at the state level.

The 2005 tax overhaul, the Commercial Activity Tax, resulted in $2 billion less each year to be had, said Zach Schiller of Policy Matters Ohio.

“These tax changes haven’t delivered,” Schiller said. “We believe they need to revisit it.”

Nine panel members spoke to an audience of parents, teachers and school district members from Cuyahoga County, including David Tryon, Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education member.

Panel members pointed out that other types of budget cuts affect schools, as well as direct education cuts. When businesses and other agencies suffer from cuts, schools have to rely more on the community, often in the form of levies. 

Reno Contipelli, of the Cuyahoga Heights Board of Education, facilitated the evening’s event. North Royalton School Board Member Dan Langshaw and North Olmsted Board of Education member Terry Groden organized the roundtable.

The panel consisted of Michelle Francis, Ohio School Boards Association; Tim Pickana, Solon City School District Treasurer; Schiller; Anthony Podojil, The Alliance for Higher Quality Education; Tom Ash, Buckeye Association of School Administrators; and Nan Baker, Republican state representative for district 16.

Ideas centered around the fact that reviving income taxes on high earners and restoring business taxes to what they were prior to 2005 would give funds to public services and support Ohio’s economy. Roundtable members encouraged attendees to push for this in their community as Ohio residents.

Some key points of the night:

• “I’d rather find ways to increase revenue than increase taxes,” Baker said. She hit on the fact that unemployment is hurting Ohio, and the state has plenty of assets to play up to bring jobs to our area, such as fresh water.
• “We all know a cut is coming. Many of you have built in that cut somewhere in your budget,” Podojil said. He said that the anxiety will remain until schools know where the state is cutting its budget. 
• “The size of the cut is important. How we make the cut is just as important,” Ash said. A statewide cut could negatively impact low wealth districts, but he points out that people shouldn’t expect high wealth districts to subsidize cuts that go to lower wealth districts.