The End Of An Era
While a great number of the more than 40,000 Catholic School students in this diocese are not in school today due to this winter storm, we still have two reasons to celebrate: National Catholic Schools Week and also National School Choice Week! Today I offer a reflection on both, especially the latter, as Ohio’s education system—after decades of division, litigation, and a narrative of scarcity—has quietly crossed a historic threshold.
Traditional public schools remain the number one choice for Ohio families. They always have been, and they will likely continue to be. Ohio has made good on a long-deferred obligation: to fund public education constitutionally, equitably, and to recognize that children choosing educational options outside traditional school districts are no less children of Ohio.
This year, Ohio has implemented the third phase of the Fair School Funding Plan, passing into law the inputs-based funding model for public schools. The legislature has incorporated these recommendations, decades in the making, together with Ohio’s school choice policies that began with the first Cleveland Scholarship students in 1996 and grew to include Ohio’s first charter schools in 1998.
In doing so, they are fulfilling the Ohio’s constitution’s requirements for “a thorough and efficient system” that, as the ODEW states, “funds students where they are educated rather than where they live.” While Ohio considers the future of property taxes, about two-thirds of which are dedicated to fund local school districts, and education policy, those who care about Catholic schools should understand this truth: today’s Ohio school funding formula provides for traditional public, charter, and nonpublic schools fairly and equitably as the culmination of more than a quarter century of legal, legislative, and moral reckoning.
A Constitutional Chapter Closed
Ohio’s modern school-funding era began in earnest with the DeRolph series of cases that found Ohio's education funding inadequate and unconstitutional, shaping a generation of education policy debates. In DeRolph IV, the Ohio Supreme Court stated plainly, “the duty now lies with the General Assembly to remedy an educational system that has been found by the majority in DeRolph IV to still be unconstitutional” (State ex rel. State v. Lewis, 99 Ohio St.3d 97.)
That is what we celebrate this year! The court made clear that the onus for fixing the broken school funding formula was squarely on the legislature. And we have arrived: in this biennial budget, 2026 marks the dawn of a new era.
This outcome did not happen overnight, nor did it happen accidentally. It reflects steady stewardship of former legislators Bob Cupp (Republican) and John Patterson (Democrat), whose bipartisan leadership and persistence established the framework for public schools. Matt Huffman, who presided as Senate President and now as Speaker of the House during the three phases of implementation. Arguably Ohio’s strongest champion for school choice, Huffman led the establishment of the EdChoice Expansion scholarship in 2015, which has grown to be universally available on a sliding scale as part of the current funding formula. And of course Governor Mike DeWine, whose administration has been highly supportive of children and families, has authorized every biennial budget as the Fair School Funding recommendations were phased in over 3 cycles. Just as the Ohio Supreme Court envisioned back in 2003, the legislature has acted, and the result is now the law of the land.
Ohio’s Speaker of the House Matt Huffman and Governor Mike DeWine look on as former Speaker Bob Cupp and former Representative John Patterson slay the legacy of Ohio’s unconstitutional school funding. Image generated by author using ChatGPT 4o. (OpenAI, 2025)
Spending More Than Ever Before
According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Ohio is spending more on education than at any point in its history, noting: “In fiscal year (FY) 2025, the state of Ohio spent more on primary and secondary education than at any other time in state history. And state education spending will continue to increase.”
The progress has been evolutionary, not revolutionary. And it is visible in the district-level transparency tools known as the District Profile Reports, or “Cupp Reports,” named for that same legendary lawmaker who inspired their creation years ago.
Source: District Profile Reports. https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Finance-and-Funding/School-Payment-Reports/District-Profile-Reports
What the Data Show
Never Enough?
Some critics will note that the Fair School Funding Plan has not been implemented word-for-word according to the working group’s recommendations. (As if any working group's have been!) Most notably, today's budget continues to use 2022 cost data (e.g., salaries from that year) to calculate per-pupil funding rather than referring to the 2024 figures. The legislature wisely determined this modification was necessary to restrain potentially runaway ballooning of the self-referential formula.
Some of these same critics would prefer to shift funding from programs that do not support traditional public schools. The Fair School Funding workgroup did not address those programs—not because of bipartisan restraint, but because it was not inclusive. The group included no representatives from charter schools, which are funded through the formula, nor from chartered nonpublic schools, whose students receive state scholarships funded by it. Together, these schools educate more than 15% of Ohio’s K–12 students.
This exclusion underscores why the funding formula must remain the responsibility of the state legislature, not a committee or advocacy group—and certainly not the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the state's second largest teachers' union, whose testimony to the Senate Education Committee argued that public schools should receive all that they demand first, "and if there’s money later to talk about how we help the other students we can have that conversation.”
Some critics will note that the Fair School Funding Plan has not been implemented word-for-word according to the working group’s recommendations. (As if any working group's have been!) Most notably, today's budget continues to use 2022 cost data (e.g., salaries from that year) to calculate per-pupil funding rather than referring to the 2024 figures. The legislature wisely determined this modification was necessary to restrain potentially runaway ballooning of the self-referential formula.
Some of these same critics would prefer to shift funding from programs that do not support traditional public schools. The Fair School Funding workgroup did not address those programs—not because of bipartisan restraint, but because it was not inclusive. The group included no representatives from charter schools, which are funded through the formula, nor from chartered nonpublic schools, whose students receive state scholarships funded by it. Together, these schools educate more than 15% of Ohio’s K–12 students.
This exclusion underscores why the funding formula must remain the responsibility of the state legislature, not a committee or advocacy group—and certainly not the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the state's second largest teachers' union, whose testimony to the Senate Education Committee argued that public schools should receive all that they demand first, "and if there’s money later to talk about how we help the other students we can have that conversation.”
Doing Our Homework
Rapidly rising property taxes have seized the attention of Ohio taxpayers, renewing interest in where the money goes. In our state, about two-thirds of our local taxes go only to local public districts, which are also funded by the state’s share, intended to bring equity to the diverse state. We as advocates for Catholic schools need to remain educated and be aware of local and state policy conversations.
Many of Ohio’s school districts have still been beating the drum that public schools are underfunded, and have not yet changed their tune, despite the evidence. Fortunately, this is precisely why the Cupp Reports exist: to show actual dollars received and spent. You can look up your district in last year’s report here.
Some media outlets have proven consistently unreliable on the topic of education funding in general and school choice funding in particular. When Cleveland’s legacy newspaper repeated the erroneous claim that “public schools lose money,” it parroted a single district’s assertion—one that required correction at a local school board meeting last spring. The same outlet, which published a misleading comparison of scholarship performance before complete data were available for universal eligibility, also accused Governor DeWine of “slashing” public education when it reprinted legislative tables online and chose to omit the key column showing the enrollment decreases that largely explained the smaller district funding totals. They continue to prove the bon mot sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, “If you don’t read the news, you’re uninformed. If you read the news, you’re misinformed.” Fortunately, the truth can be found in places like the Cupp reports, the ODEW reports portal, and even our own analyses like the Diocese of Cleveland’s Academic Progress Report.
While the Fair School Funding era has officially begun, debates over how to fund education are far from finished. It is encouraging that outlets like Signal are producing explanatory journalism that helps Ohioans understand how school funding actually works. Even as we celebrate progress, we who care about Catholic education need to be well-informed advocates who speak up to our local and state lawmakers regarding the future of education funding. Thank you for your interest and support of Catholic schools this school Choice Week and Catholic Schools Week!
