Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute testified (see full text below or download a PDF) before the Ohio House Education Committee on the K-12 budget in Ohio House Bill 96—Ohio’s biennial budget.

In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that “putting students first means funding students rather than systems” and praised this budget for doing just that. Lawson applauded:

• The phase-out of funding guarantees that over-funds schools with declining enrollment and maintains the “broken status quo” that funds “empty desks and classrooms rather than sending state resources to the schools that students actually attend.”
• The increase in the per-student allocation for charter school capital costs to help level the playing field given that charter schools do not benefit from local property taxes and receive less per-student funding than district schools.
• The modifications to how public school districts should sell under-used buildings to high-performing charter schools.
• The addition of a college, career, workforce, and military readiness component to the state report cards.

Lawson went on to encourage revisions to the budget that would further help students and families, including allowing recipients of all scholarships, including EdChoice, to receive the Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) meant to help lower-income and disadvantaged students, which would “help the non-public schools reach and educate more lower-income students.” 

Lawson closed by urging lawmakers to “closely monitor and expand the pilot school transportation program authorized in the previous budget,” which “enables two educational service centers to provide transportation for students enrolled in participating charter and private schools in order to reduce the transportation burden on school districts.”

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A Budget to Put Students First

Interested Party Testimony
Ohio House Education Committee
Ohio House Bill 96

Greg R. Lawson, Research Fellow
The Buckeye Institute
March 5, 2025

As Prepared for Delivery

Chair Fowler Arthur, Vice Chair Odioso, Ranking Member Robinson, and members of the Committee thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding Ohio’s biennial budget—Ohio House Bill 96.

My name is Greg R. Lawson. I am a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.

As The Buckeye Institute has long maintained, putting Students First means funding students rather than systems. This budget proposal does that—and, with a few revisions, it can do it even better. 

The biennial budget helps fund Ohio’s K-12 public schools. Education funding formulas remain hopelessly complex and I will not belabor their intricacies, but public district school enrollment is broadly declining across the state as families decide to enroll their students elsewhere, and the General Assembly should appropriate funds accordingly. Ohio already spends more on public schools since the DeRolph court decision and has spent more than $12 billion on facilities alone. Regrettably, the state’s less-than-stellar scores on the most recent Nation’s Report Card suggest that these significant funds may not be so well spent.

Governor DeWine therefore has wisely pushed to phase-out guarantees in the so-called fair funding system that needlessly over-fund public school districts with declining enrollment. Maintaining the broken status quo would continue funding empty desks and classrooms rather than sending state resources to the schools that students actually attend. Although the proposed budget resists a dramatic spike in spending, it does increase overall state education funding—and news headlines decrying the phase-out as a funding “cut” are misleading at best. 

The General Assembly should modify Ohio’s school funding formula to ensure that decisions made by local school districts do not automatically increase state funding and, to the extent that the General Assembly considers additional spending, it should be for improving popular school choice options that put student and family preferences first. The proposed budget rightly increases the per-student allocation for charter school capital costs, for example, from $1,000 to $1,500, because charter schools do not benefit from local property taxes and already receive less per-student funding than district schools. But the General Assembly should also allow recipients of all scholarships, including EdChoice, to receive the Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) meant to help lower-income and disadvantaged students. Some scholarship recipients do not receive the DPIA funds available to public district and public charter school students. Extending the DPIA to non-public school scholarship recipients will help the non-public schools reach and educate more lower-income students. 

House Bill 96 improves how public district schools treat their underused buildings. Districts underuse some of their buildings and new annual reports to the Department of Education and Workforce with updated enrollment data will help determine whether certain buildings are “unused facilities” that should be repurposed or sold to public charter schools with growing enrollment. Districts should not retain underused buildings and the budget rightly modifies how to sell such buildings to high-performing charter schools.

The proposed budget also wisely adds a college, career, workforce, and military readiness (CCWMR) component to the state report cards. As The Buckeye Institute has recommended, more transparency is critical for families to make informed decisions about their child’s education. Reverting to a letter-grade rating system would be even better, but adding the CCWMR component for parents to consider takes a transparent step in the right direction.

Finally, the General Assembly should closely monitor and expand the pilot school transportation program authorized in the previous budget. This pilot program enables two educational service centers to provide transportation for students enrolled in participating charter and private schools in order to reduce the transportation burden on school districts. Unfortunately, some school districts, including right here in Columbus, have resisted this piloted effort, resulting in legal action by the state attorney general. 

Thank you for your time and attention. I am happy to answer any questions the Committee might have.

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