Representatives of 41 Ohio school districts, including two in the Mahoning Valley, made a perfectly reasonable pitch to state lawmakers with a letter asking them to make sure public schools are fully and fairly funded before the Legislature jumps into expansion projects. According to a report by WCMH, the letter asks lawmakers to get that done before the June 30 deadline for finalizing the biennial budget, rather than prioritizing an increase in the number of students receiving state-funded scholarships to cover the cost of private school tuition.

The local school districts that signed on to the letter were Youngstown City Schools and Warren City Schools.

Recall the state Supreme Court has twice told lawmakers their school funding formula is unconstitutional. But those same lawmakers are unbothered. Meanwhile, one has to wonder whether there would be fewer students seeking private school vouchers if the public schools in their district were getting the funding they needed.

“There is ample empirical evidence to prove that the way to address the poverty achievement gap is robustly funding public schools to institute best practices: early childhood education; a well-rounded school experience including culture, sports and the arts; the extracurricular activities that give students a sense of purpose; community-minded and community-building schools; and cooperative learning,” the letter said, according to WCMH. “As a state we must prioritize the places where this is happening — the public schools.”

Lawmakers are, in theory, phasing in the six-year implementation of the Fair School Funding Plan. But it does a disservice to all Ohio students if lawmakers are looking for ways to get more kids out of the public school system before that funding plan is fully in place.

“There is often talk of competition being good, but that only works if we are competing on a level playing field. In some school districts, nonpublic schools are receiving more state funding per student via vouchers than the public school is receiving from the state’s share of funding,” according to the letter.

It seems as though state lawmakers would want to be working the other way around, doesn’t it? Fully and constitutionally fund Ohio public schools, and then determine whether it is necessary to expand the number of vouchers / scholarships that allow students to attend a private school if they and their parents determine it will better prepare them for success.

If we get this backward (and certainly politicians have been known to get their priorities out of order on occasion), struggling school districts will only fall further behind. Lawmakers must not allow that to happen.

editorial@vindy.com