Ohio state support for K-12 schools hits record low

Ohio’s share of K-12 funding has fallen to about 32%, the lowest level in state history, as lawmakers left key school-cost inputs unchanged in the FY 2026–27 budget. Supporters of the Fair School Funding Plan say the freeze shifts more costs to local taxpayers and leaves districts facing rising expenses.

Why it matters: - Ohio’s state share of K-12 funding has fallen to a historic low near 32%, leaving local property taxpayers to carry more of the burden. - School leaders say the trend is driving higher residential property taxes and making it harder to keep up with rising costs for teachers, transportation, utilities and building maintenance. - Ohio has also remained in the lowest 20% of states for public education support, underscoring the long-running gap.

What happened: - As Ohio students return to school, state support for public education has dropped to the lowest level in Ohio history. - Data from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce show the state now covers about 32% of K-12 funding, down from about 44% in the 1990s. - The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in the 1990s that the state’s earlier funding model was unconstitutional because it relied too heavily on property taxes. - The Fair School Funding Plan was developed beginning in November 2017 by former House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Republican, and former state Rep. John Patterson, a Democrat, with Ohio superintendents and treasurers. - The Ohio House passed the plan 87-9 in December 2020, and the plan was intended to phase in over six years.

The details: - From 2020 to 2025, the Fair School Funding Plan delivered nearly $1.5 billion in additional state funding and increased traditional PK-12 school funding by 12.1%. - Kevin Miller, superintendent of Licking Heights Local School District, said the model is designed to address students’ needs today and Ohio’s workforce needs tomorrow. - Miller said the plan also preserves local control by letting districts direct resources to their own priorities. - In the FY 2026–27 budget, state lawmakers did not update the plan’s cost inputs, so the formula still uses FY 2022 costs. - Rising expenses for salaries, benefits, transportation, utilities and technology now outpace the frozen formula inputs. - Because property values and income data used to calculate local capacity keep updating, freezing costs pushes more of the funding responsibility onto local taxpayers. - In 1975, businesses paid 53.9% of local school property taxes in Ohio, while residents and farmers paid 46.1%. - Today, residents pay 68% and businesses pay 32%.

Between the lines: - The funding fight is no longer just about school budgets. It is also about who pays the bill as inflation lifts costs and lawmakers hold down the state share. - Michael Hanlon, superintendent of Chardon schools, said decades of policy choices to ease business tax burdens have shifted more of the load to homeowners and farmers. - Hanlon said state funding needs to rise with costs so students receive the same educational opportunities as prior generations. - Ryan Pendleton, former treasurer/CFO of Akron Public Schools, pointed to the Ohio Constitution’s requirement that the state maintain a “thorough and efficient” system of common schools. - Pendleton said the state share has fallen to a record low of 32.5% in FY 2027, worse than the level the Ohio Supreme Court found unconstitutional nearly 30 years ago. - Jared Bunting, a veteran school treasurer/CFO in southeastern Ohio, said the plan should be fully funded and permanently implemented.

What's next: - Supporters are urging Ohioans to contact their state representative and senator and push lawmakers to finish funding the plan. - The Fair School Funding Plan website says the proposal is meant to provide a fair, permanent, reliable and predictable K-12 funding formula. - The plan’s backers say it also supports economic growth across Ohio. - More information is available at the Fair School Funding Plan website.

The bottom line: - Ohio’s school funding formula remains a political and fiscal fault line, with state aid at a historic low and local taxpayers absorbing more of the cost.