Achievement Everywhere:
Common Sense for Ohio's Classrooms
Every child deserves a high-quality education regardless of where they live, their circumstances or their own unique learning traits. It is essential for helping them get good jobs in the future, reach their God-given potential, and create the jobs-friendly climate that helps Ohio get back on track.
Achievement Everywhere, which is part of Gov. John Kasich's FY2014-15 budget proposal, helps provide all schools with the resources they need so their students can succeed-regardless of where they live. The plan provides $1.2 billion in total new funds over the biennium for primary and secondary education. Other highlights include:
- A funding formula that provides schools with the resources to help children achieve, regardless of where they live;
- Policies that focus on putting dollars in the classroom where educators can help students succeed and work with their parents to make decisions on how best to respond to their unique learning traits;
- Special funds to help schools transition from unsuccessful models to new strategies that work, and;
- Relief for educators from rules and regulations that hold them back so they can have more flexibility to meet students' needs.
Achievement Everywhere builds upon school improvement initiatives, such as the Third Grade Reading Guarantee and A-to-F Report Card, which Ohio is implementing in order to better educate Ohio's children and prepare them for successful careers. By taking on Ohio's persistent education disparities with $1.2 billion in new funds that help every student achieve-regardless of their zip code-and by prioritizing classroom needs from early childhood to higher education, Achievement Everywhere advances the tradition of Ohio's strong partnership with independent local schools so that the next generation of Ohioans can realize their God-given potential and lift our state to new heights.
School Funding Estimates
School Funding Spreadsheets for Primary and Secondary Education Preliminary Estimates - FY 2014
More Funds For Ohio's Low-Wealth And Urban Schools
Ohio's low-wealth and urban school districts receive the largest share of Ohio's school funds and more funds per-pupil than high-wealth districts
"This is not hard to figure out: If you are poor, you're going to get more. If you are rich, you're going to get less," Gov. John Kasich, speaking to Ohio's school superintendents,
Under Gov. John Kasich's Achievement Everywhere plan, Ohio's low-wealth and urban school districts receive more state aid than high-wealth districts, not only as a portion of Ohio's overall formula funding but also on a per-pupil basis.
Furthermore, given that the governor's plan prioritizes students' needs over buildings, equipment or adult school district employees at a time when many districts are both losing students and enjoying higher property values-all factors which could result in a district receiving less state formula aid than other districts-the fact that the governor's plan doesn't reduce their funds but instead guarantees them at least the same funding as last year is a major help to districts.
In this dynamic, it is simply not realistic to envision that most districts would receive more money than last year. Instead, the preservation of historical, formula-distorting funding guarantees actually denies growing or poorer districts the increased funding that they rightfully deserve and need. Immediately providing these funds, and immediately eliminating guarantees, would be destabilizing, however. Such changes must be phased in, and school districts must begin preparing for the eventual transition away from distorting, unsustainable and unfair funding guarantees.
Low-Wealth and Urban Districts Receive the Biggest Portion of Total State Funds
Low-wealth and urban school districts receive a greater portion of the state's formula funds than high-wealth districts. In fact, these districts receive 62.7 percent of all funds the state distributes to school districts through the formula.
Low-Wealth and Urban Districts Receive More Per-Pupil Than High-Wealth Districts
Students in a low-wealth or urban districts receive more from the state than students in Ohio's high-wealth school districts. In fact, in FY2014 Ohio's lowest-wealth districts receive 155 percent of the state average on a per-pupil basis and 400 percent more than the highest-wealth districts. Similarly, urban districts receive 148 percent of the state average per-pupil and 383 percent more than the highest-wealth districts.
From $7,479 to $110 Per-Pupil: the Poorest Districts Get More and the Richest Districts Get Less
Under Achievement Everywhere, Ohio's poorest school district by property valuation, Trimble Local in Athens County, would receive $7,479 per pupil in state aid in FY2014. That amount is higher than the 28 wealthiest district's per-pupil funds combined. Conversely, Ohio's wealthiest school district by property valuation, Indian Hill Exempted Village in Hamilton County, would receive only $110 per-pupil. The chart below illustrates how the governor's Achievement Everywhere plan provides Ohio's poorest districts with more state aid per pupil than districts with higher property valuation.
