Ohio Governor Cuts $300 Million from FY 2020 Education Funding. Crisis Across State Budgets Demands Immediate and Long Term Federal Help
At the end of April, Bruce Baker of Rutgers University and Matthew Di Carlo of the Albert Shanker Institute published a new report, The Coronavirus Pandemic and K-12 Education Funding. They begin: “The most terrible and lasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic will of course be measured in loss of life. But a parallel tragedy will also be unfolding in the coming months and years, this one affecting those at the beginning of their lives, an unprecedented school funding crisis that threatens to disadvantage a generation of children. It currently is difficult to make any precise predictions about the magnitude of the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, except to say that it has already started and is likely to be severe. The revenue that funds public K-12 schools—almost 90 percent of which comes from state and local sources—will see large decreases. There will be cuts. Making things worse, school districts in many states have yet to recover from the last recession….”
Oh Tuesday, the magnitude of immediate cuts to K-12 education in Ohio became clearer. The Columbus Dispatch‘s Randy Ludlow explains: “The ordered closure of nonessential businesses during the pandemic and the accompanying loss of nearly 1.1 million jobs has devastated Ohio’s economy while also increasing demand for social services such as Medicaid.”
Ludlow describes the impact of business shutdowns and job losses on the tax revenues needed for the state to provide necessary services: “State tax revenue through April was $776.9 million below the fiscal year estimates on which the state budget was built.” Consequently, “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced immediate cuts in state spending totaling $775 million on Tuesday as the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic devastates state tax collections… Among the cuts, basic state aid for K-12 schools will be reduced by $300 million. That’s a 6% cut out of the total annual foundation funding for public, charter and private schools… The first year of the biennial $69.8 billion state budget must be balanced by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.” The state has $2.7 billion in a rainy day fund. Ludlow reports CONTINUE READING: Ohio Governor Cuts $300 Million from FY 2020 Education Funding. Crisis Across State Budgets Demands Immediate and Long Term Federal Help | janresseger