The Opportunity: Our children’s future is worth the investment. We have the opportunity to head off trouble in adulthood by investing in our kids. Whether we are talking about health education, employment skills or financial literacy, we have a captive audience that we have the opportunity to set up for success. We are paying the price for the legislature's lack of conviction to constitutionally fund our public schools.

The History: The Ohio State Constitution says that the state "shall" provide a “thorough and efficient system of common schools”. Not only is it the constitutional thing, investing in our children is the right thing to do.

30 years ago, Ohio’s school funding was ruled unconstitutional because it was overly reliant on property taxes. The Legislature continued to kick that can down the road for decades. Finally, something happened.

School administrators, teachers, treasurers and legislators worked together to come up with the FSFP that indexed the state contribution to the actual expense of educating and supporting our children. It considered the median income of a district's population, not just property value. It took into account a community’s ability to pay. This was a far better approach than the patchwork of emergency funding as communities faced manufacturing closures and various challenges. 

Before the 6 year phase in of this Bill could be fully implented, the General Assembly has begun to dismantle it. 

The Promise: I am commited to holding true to Ohio's duty to set future generations up for success regardless of zip code.