The long-term effects of abandoning Ohio's Fair School Funding plan
Getty Images.
Early this budget season, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman said school funding cuts were on the horizon. His House budget certainly follows up with that promise.
According to analysis by the Ohio River Valley Institute, the FY2027 school allocation under the House Plan falls $2.7 billion short of what the General Assembly agreed to invest in public education in the 2022 Fair School Funding Plan. That represents a funding cut of about 25% from the previous plan.
These cuts will be felt across the state. According to the same analysis, 91% of school districts will have less funding under the House plan than the Fair School Funding Plan. An unlucky 26 school districts will see their state support reduced by 50% or more.
In February, my firm Scioto Analysis asked 17 Ohio economists for their thoughts about the plan to cut spending on public education. Of those economists, 14 agreed the cuts would hurt Ohio's economy in the long run. Only one disagreed.
Dr. Kathryn Wilson of Kent State University explained the harms reductions in school spending can have on the economy, saying they can lead to lower human capital development that hurts the productivity of future workers, but also that it can lead to more costs for taxpayers with more government assistance and criminal justice spending needed with a less educated state population.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
In 2023, we conducted a cost-benefit analysis of school spending in Ohio. We built off evidence of the relationship between school spending, test scores, and graduation rates to estimate the long-term impacts of school spending on labor force productivity. We found that increased investment in students leads to wage impacts in the long run that will grow the state's economy. We also found cuts will hurt productivity and reduce output for the state.
According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Ohio has about 1.7 million children currently enrolled from Kindergarten to Grade 12. This means the proposed $2.7 billion cut would represent about a $1,600 per-student decrease in spending from the baseline of the General Assembly's Fair School Funding Plan.
In our 2023 study, we estimated what would happen if the state reduced school funding levels to the per-student expenditure in Indiana, which is about $3,600 lower than Ohio. We estimated this would cost the state somewhere between $30 billion and $120 billion in economic value in the long run.
Scaling these losses to match the Ohio House's $1,600 reduction in per-pupil spending, we can estimate the reduction in statewide school funding will cost the state economy somewhere from $14 billion to $54 billion in the long run in the form of lower earnings from lower test scores, lower graduation rates, and higher social spending.
Yes, $2.7 billion is a lot of money. But educating a state workforce costs money. Cutting corners on education might lead to short-term benefits, but there are long-term costs the state will have to bear for decisions like this. These include lower productivity, lower earnings, and higher spending on social services and criminal justice.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
19 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump: Iran strike ‘spectacular success'
Politics Trump: Iran strike 'spectacular success' June 22, 2025 | 2:19 AM GMT In an address to the nation, President Donald Trump, speaking from the White House on June 21, said U.S. warplanes had struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chocolate company recalls product nationwide for undeclared allergen
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Chocolate products have been recalled nationwide due to potential undeclared milk allergens, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Pennsylvania-based distributor, Weaver Nut Company, Inc., has recalled its semi-sweet chocolate nonpareils with white or Christmas colored seeds, the advisory from the FDA says. More Local News People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk could face serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume the impacted products, the FDA warns. So far no illnesses have been reported. The issue was discovered through a wholesale customer who filed a complaint saying the shipment was misaligned with the product specifications. Lab tests confirmed the presence of milk in the product. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Consumers who have purchased the recalled product are urged not to eat it if they have a milk allergy and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Below is the list of lot codes for the affected chocolates. 47518 – Nonpareil, Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Christmas Seeds) 204206 204207 204208 204209 204212 224225 D2645 – Nonpareils, Semi-Sweet Chocolate (White Seeds) 204214-RL 204214 204215 224221 224222 224223 135215 135216 135217 135220 135221 145204 145205-1 145207-1 145210-1 Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bloomberg
20 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Ether Leads Crypto Selloff as US Attacks Nuclear Sites in Iran
Ether fell sharply while Bitcoin held steady after President Donald Trump said American bombers and missiles had struck Iran's three main nuclear sites. The second-ranked token fell as much as 7.7% on Sunday morning in Asia to about $2,200, its lowest intra-day level since May 9. Bitcoin briefly dipped below $101,000 but pared losses to trade relatively evenly in the aftermath of the attacks.
