School Funding in Ohio: The Possibilities and Challenges of Creating a Solution
Monday February 10, 2020 7:00p.m.
Cleveland Heights High School, 16263 Cedar Road
w/Representative John Patterson (D-Jefferson) and Bill Phillis, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding
School funding in Ohio has been deemed unconstitutional for over 20 years.
Rep. Patterson (D – Jefferson) and Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) led a three-year process to address the shortcomings of Ohio’s school funding system. HB 305 is now making its way through the legislature.
In the 1997 DeRolph decision, the Ohio Supreme Court found Ohio’s funding system unconstitutional. Bill Phillis, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding, the organization that brought the lawsuit, will provide the history of Ohio’s funding lawsuit and an overview of the constitutional issues that need to be solved.
Rep. Patterson will address the challenges in defining a realistic estimate of the costs of education, in determining how much state aid is required and distributing it fairly, and in garnering enough public and lawmaker support for necessary changes.
State Representative Janine Boyd, will introduce the experts and participate in the question and answer portion of the meeting.
Event sponsors are Heights Coalition for Public Education, League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland, Reaching Heights, CHUH PTA Council, NE Ohio Friends of Public Education, the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union, CH-UH Board of Education.
