Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

School suit not just city's problem
Many Ohio districts have uneven funding patterns
Sunday, September 23, 2007 4:04 AM
BY BILL BUSH
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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If Columbus mayoral candidate William M. Todd succeeds in his lawsuit challenging the Columbus City School District with inequitable funding, a lot of other school districts in Ohio could be in trouble.
Todd's lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Monday, says variations in spending per pupil from one building to another in the district violate the Ohio Constitution's mandate for a ''thorough and efficient'' system of common schools.
As an example, Todd points to two Columbus elementary schools -- Winterset and Liberty. During the 2005-06 school year, Winterset, on the Northwest Side, spent about $12,500 per student; Liberty, on the Far East Side, about $7,600.
Not mentioned in the lawsuit is that thousands of other schools in districts throughout the state -- including in Franklin County -- have funding patterns similar to Winterset's and Liberty's.
Of 229 school districts in the state operating more than one elementary school, the average spending difference between the most expensive and least expensive school was more than $2,000 per student.
Funding in other districts is even more divergent than in Todd's example.
?• In the Dublin district, Eli Pinney Elementary spent $7,900 per student; Daniel Wright Elementary, $11,300.

Dispatch cont.

?• In Reynoldsburg schools, Slate Ridge Elementary spent $7,400 per student; Graham Road Elementary, about $13,600.
?• In South-Western, Buckeye Woods Elementary spent about $7,700 per student; Harrisburg Elementary, almost $13,500.
Todd based his lawsuit on a study by the Buckeye Institute that looked at 72 school districts in Ohio with high-poverty student populations. It didn't look at more-affluent districts. Neither the study nor the lawsuit seeks to determine what is creating the discrepancies.
''My focus was not the reasons for it but simply the fact that it was happening,'' Todd said.
School districts should strive to balance their spending among schools, but the size of the building and the experience level of the teachers play leading roles in why some schools are more costly to operate, said Robert Palaich, a senior partner at Denver-based Augenblick, Palaich and Associates. The firm has consulted with states, including Ohio, on funding formulas and equity issues.
Big schools are more efficient because their fixed costs -- the principal, office secretary, custodians and staff-development seminars, for example -- are spread across more students. That brings the cost per student down.
Winterset spent $3.36 million teaching 269 students. While Liberty spent more total money -- $4.13 million -- its enrollment was 541 students, about double that of Winterset.
''The bottom line,'' Palaich said, ''is the school board has a choice to move that school to a bigger building and take in more kids.''
''One principal divided by 100 kids is a lot different than one principal divided by 750 kids,'' said Hugh Garside, treasurer of South-Western schools.
Because union contracts call for paying more-experienced teachers higher salaries, a school with a more-seasoned staff will have a higher payroll, Garside said.
''Staffing is what should be equal, student-teacher ratios,'' he said. ''What we can't control is the seniority level at the building. That's really where the cost discrepancies occur.''
Also, all health-care costs for employees are counted in the total amount a school spends per student, said Columbus schools spokesman Jeff Warner. If employees have a lot of health problems in their families, those costs show up as a school expenditure, he said.
Liberty had 28 full-time and three part-time teachers on its staff in 2005-06 with a median salary of $56,210. Winterset had 16 full-time teachers and five part-time teachers with a median salary of $63,477. Four of Winterset's teachers staffed its special unit for multiply handicapped students, which added $208,000 a year in salary costs. Liberty did not have a similar program.
Todd's lawsuit asks that the court order the Columbus school district to distribute money to buildings based on a ''weighted student formula'' that gives more money to higher-needs schools.
The Columbus Board of Education ordered Superintendent Gene Harris to create such a formula six years ago. The equity policy still on the district's books says that ''resources shall be awarded to schools based on a weighted formula'' that considers a variety of socioeconomic factors.
''I think it was a lofty policy statement,'' board member Jeff Cabot said last week. ''With 83 percent of our expenditures in personnel costs, it's going to take a considerable period of time being very intentional to change those spending patterns.''
bbush@dispatch.com

This is interesting...

Along with looking at the expense per student, I wonder if there is any way to look at the income per student?

Any thoughts on how this would play out in Pickerington?

And, is it justifiable that if income per student is higher at a particular school, that the expense per student should also be higher? i.e., you get what you pay for?

Yes it would

With the price of the new schools, it would be interesting to see the cost difference in price per pupil incorporated and unincorpoated. Seeing as how the township has a minimal amount of the commercial developement also, the difference is probably staggering.

By Curiuos, too