RH Jones: Will schools lose funds by governor's proposal?

RH Jones to John Curry, February 8, 2008
Subject: Re: Will public schools lose some monies by this proposal?

John & all:

This retired teacher backs my OEA 100% on this matter. However, where was the OSBA on this? They certainly jumped on opposition to HB 315 (the STRS retiree health care increase) early on. And HB 315 will help public schools by expensive older teachers retiring earlier! Go figure? I shake my head in wonder.

RHJones, retired STRS member

Ted's college plan irks union Ohio's largest teachers union isn't happy about the governor's plan to help high school seniors jump-start their college careers.

Source: Columbus Dispatch
February 8, 2007

Why?

Money, mostly.

College tuition costs will be covered, in part, by diverting per-pupil state aid now paid to school districts, according to Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, who was assigned to work out the details.

"We would be concerned if the Seniors to Sophomores Program would inadvertently devalue 12th grade, or if it would divert funds from the public high school," said Michele Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association.

Gov. Ted Strickland's program would allow qualifying 12th graders to spend their senior year on college campus, starting in the fall. Students would earn their high school diploma and a full year of college credit, allowing them to jump right to their sophomore year. He announced the plan Thursday during his second State of the State address.

Fingerhut said the program will be paid with "blended funding," a combination of state aid to school districts and state aid to colleges although the specifics have yet to be worked out. Additional state aid is not part of the mix, he said.

The funding plan sounds similar to the state's charter school program in which the state portion of per-pupil aid follows the student to charter school they attend. The teachers' unions have opposed the loss of those funds as well.

Prater said the OEA prefers a program in which college courses are offered at the high school, in part to avoid students having to spend money traveling from home to college.

"Rather than diverting students and funding from the local high school, we should create school-college partnerships that accelerate the learning of all students and make the best use of precious state and local resources," she said.

Posted by Catherine Candisky, Statehouse reporter on February 7, 2008