COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio public schools have been begging the state for funding for air conditioning, for pencils, for special needs supports in their buildings. The U.S. Department of Education helps to fund many of their facilities, but with the looming threat that this money is going to be pulled, teachers are paralyzed.
"I see kids whose families don't have enough to eat,” middle school teacher Joe Decker said. "Kids who have to share beds with siblings.”
Decker knows that he serves some of the least privileged kids in the state. Columbus City Schools (CCS) receives more federal money than any other district in Ohio.
"I already have students who are falling asleep because they're hungry; I already have students who aren't coming to school because they have to take care of sick sibling; I have students who are afraid to come to school because of ICE, that think they're going to be snatched up by law enforcement just because of where their family is from," he continued, referencing how the Trump administration is permitting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to go into schools.
Every single student, more than 50,000, enrolled in CCS in 2018 was considered "disadvantaged," according to research done by The Ohio State University. At the time, the average household income was about $47,000. Anecdotally, Decker said that where he teaches, Mifflin Middle School, is on the lowest end of the average income level.
Quick history
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 1997 in DeRolph v. State that the way the state funds schools is unconstitutional, relying too much on property taxes.
Throughout the next three decades, lawmakers went back and forth on policy in an attempt to fix the unconstitutionality. The Ohio Education Association (OEA), as well as lawmakers on each side of the aisle, have deemed that it has been unconstitutional since then. However, some Republicans argue that because they are no longer using the struck-down policy, and since nothing else has been deemed "unconstitutional" in court, they argue that, by definition, it can't be considered unconstitutional.
Either way, there has been a bipartisan effort for years to fix the funding system.
But in 2021, a proposal that advocates cheered was finally passed. It required $333 million additional dollars a year for K-12 education funding — or about $2 billion overall. It is called the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP).
The rollout was supposed to take six years and is meant to change how public dollars are provided to schools. It would give additional support to local districts. The first two years were partially funded, the second two years were fully funded, and there are just two years left to go.
However, cuts are still taking place — and not every school gets what it needs.
Existing challenges
With cuts made by lawmakers, Decker is already dealing with an increase in the number of kids in his class.
"There are no limits on how many special education children could be placed in my classroom — I might have 24 along with like 10, 15 more mainstream kids," he said. "I've had classrooms from 42 to 26, I think."
"You have much bigger issues than worrying about school funding," I remarked to him. "The safety, the care, the hunger."
To each item I mentioned, he nodded.
"Yes," he said. "It brings me to tears when I'm talking about my students."
From the consolidation of their English as a Second Language classes to deciding to close numerous schools this past December, school funding is always top of mind for Decker.
CCS receives about $70 million from the federal government per year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.
Statewide, OEA reports that the federal agency funds $1.5 billion through programs like Title 1 to help low-income families and the IDEA program to assist families with special needs.
"What would happen to your classroom if that funding went away?" I asked Decker.
"It's already happening; the boat is sinking," he replied. "We're bleeding our schools dry."
Future challenges
President Donald Trump and his allies have proposed defunding the U.S. Department of Education with an executive order set to come soon, according to state lawmakers.
Some Ohio Republican leaders are encouraged by the administration's endorsement to disband the agency.
"We're going to have a better idea of what Ohio education needs are than they are in Washington D.C.," Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) told me.
McColley is one of the decision-makers who determines how much state money gets sent to Ohio schools. I asked him what benefits he sees, and he said flexibility.
"The Constitution originally envisioned the federal government would have no role in education and that it would be the states that control their own education," he continued. "The problem after the Department of Education was established is it's now basically legal bribery to the states to say 'You have to take this federal money, and you have to do everything that we're asking you to do.'"
That so-called legal bribery, Decker responds, is just money for marginalized students. McColley argued back that the right amount of money would go into the best hands if state leaders got access to it.
"We're much more likely to figure out the education issues in this country by doing it that way than having a top down approach," the Republican said.
But Trump can't do this himself. Congress would need to decide how federal funds are distributed. This could likely mean that states would be in charge of funding for low-income students and special needs resources. There are some safeguards to Title 1 and IDEA, and they can't just disappear without further congressional approval.
"We would be better served to block grant that money to the state of Ohio and to all the other 49 states and basically say, 'Look, the beauty of this country is we have 50 laboratories of democracy,'" McColley continued. "Some states are gonna get it right. Some states are gonna get it wrong. But we're going to be able to figure out the states that got it right and then hope to implement that on a wider basis."
But if Ohio does get a lump sum, Decker doesn't trust elected leaders will do the right thing.
"I know lawmakers won't do what is right because I've watched what they've already done," the teacher said. "It's going to the private schools."
For years, Ohio has been a champion of another Trump priority: school choice, or as the state calls it, EdChoice.
Private school vouchers
Trump and his new education secretary Linda McMahon are focusing on shifting funding priorities to "school choice," or selecting alternative options to public schools. Federal funding will open up to private schools, and there will be grants that enable families to pursue faith-based education.
Just last year, the GOP leadership in Ohio sent roughly $1 billion in public dollars to private schools. Families in Ohio can get thousands of dollars to send their children to a nonpublic school. This year, the House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) is looking to slash at least $650 million in public education spending in this General Assembly's budget, arguing that private schools are better than public.
"What is the least expensive, acceptable educational product for the taxpayer?" Huffman asked rhetorically. "If someone says they're willing to take a $7,000 scholarship voucher and go to a private school rather than going to the school that… on average in the state, it's about $15,000 — that's better for the taxpayers."
Upon my consistent pressing of the legislative leaders and Gov. Mike DeWine, and stories that have led to massive backlash for lawmakers, the governor said he would be fully funding public schools.
And while a chunk of the FSFP is funded for the next two years, the Legislative Service Commission predicted that there would be a cut of about $100 million from public schools, while nonpublic schools would get half a billion more in funding.
"We're proud to be offering students and families more choices than ever in terms of how they receive their education," the governor said when announcing his budget in February. "Ohio has a long history of supporting parents and supporting choices made by parents regarding the education of their children."
At the time of the budget announcement, journalists and the public were unable to see what the funding breakdown was.
"Do you think the voucher system is a way to privatize education?" I asked Decker.
"Most definitely," he responded. "Governor DeWine is giving our public school money to families out in New Albany, out in Pataskala, out in Dublin, so that they can hand over tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a private school. The people at that school are going to turn around and give the money back to Governor DeWine and other people who will just keep that circle going."
Decker mentioned the wealthy suburbs of Columbus, and he isn't wrong about money going there.
The number of students receiving EdChoice Expansion vouchers increased from 23,272 students during the 2022-2023 school year to 82,946 students during the 2023-2024 school year, according to data provided by the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce (ODEW).
But the number of students enrolled in private schools during the 2023-24 school year only increased by 3,719 students, according to ODEW.
DeWine and other legislative leaders argue that some public schools don't have what parents want.
"There's no educational system where one size fits all works for everyone," Now U.S. Senator Jon Husted said while he was still lieutenant governor during a press conference.
Another problem with vouchers, according to Decker, is the lack of accountability they have. Each side of this argument was highlighted in this story.
RELATED: Ohio GOP continues with plan to slash public school budget, denounces current funding as 'fantasy'
Private schools aren't fair because they get to pick and choose their students, Decker argued.
"Talking about political realities — it's de facto segregated," he said.
Mifflin, he explained, has a student body population that is 70% Black students and 20% Hispanic, 5% Asian-American and the remaining 5% white. All the kids who can't afford private schools, even with a voucher, or won't get in due to racial discrimination, will be stuck at the grossly underfunded public schools, he said.
"Taking away money from our public schools is demoralizing our public schools, it's demoralizing our students and just cutting them 1,000 times over and over," he said, welling up with tears. "It is heartbreaking to watch day after day."
Now, at the Statehouse, lawmakers are still debating how much state money should be going to schools.
With the threat of cuts to both state and federal money, teachers believe the privatization of education is imminent — and the least privileged will suffer the most.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
