Stephen Dyer is a former legislator in Ohio, where he keeps pointing out that the state’s taxpayer-funded voucher program continues to strain the public school system.
In a recent post from Northeast Ohio Advocates for Catholic School, posted on the Diocese’s official website, Frank O’Linn — the Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese — claims that taxpayers get a better deal by subsidizing the private school tuitions of millionaires than they do paying for public schools.
Why?
Because we’re paying more now for the educations of kids in public, private and charters schools than ever before.
I shit you not.
Here’s his argument in a nutshell:
“There is no mention that for the most recent fiscal year, “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” per the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Nary a word can be heard about the 24.9% increase in state appropriations over the 6 years of phasing in the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding plan, from $12.2 Billion in FY2021 to $15.3 Billion in FY2027 according to LSC Greenbooks. Mind you, that is merely the state portion, on top of the soaring property tax revenues funding traditional public schools, which combined amounted to $32.8 Billion in total K-12 spending in FY2024, the most recent year for which combined data is available.”
See? He got us. We’ve got money hand over fist. And the only reason a record number of schools are now forecasting funding shortfalls is too much spending. Or something like that.
Here’s the problem. Apparently the Superintendent of Catholic Schools in Cleveland doesn’t understand that when he’s looking at the “24.9% increase in state appropriations” since FY2021, those include increases to ALL K-12 education funding, including Charter Schools and Private Schools through tuition subsidies.
Do y’all want to hazard a guess as to how much of the $3.1 billion increase between FY21 and FY27 was due to the funding increases given to Charter Schools and Private School tuition subsidies?
Try 47% of the increase. That’s right. A cool $1.33 billion more is being spent on EdChoice tuition subsidies and largely failing Charter Schools.