Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin speaks to the Ohio House Finance Committee on a new education operating budget. Photo courtesy of Ideastream/The Ohio Channel
Hearings have begun in the Ohio House Finance Committee to dissect Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive budget proposal, including a lengthy discussion on Thursday with regard to the education provisions included in it.
“This budget takes the next steps toward fulfilling our key policy priorities,” said Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin.
DeWine’s proposal recommends $12.4 billion in funding to state schools in fiscal year 2026, and another $12.6 billion in 2027. That recommendation includes the final two years of a public school full fair funding formula that has been a point of contention for legislative leaders, particularly House Speaker Matt Huffman, who has called the funding model “unsustainable.”
The governor’s proposal also gives community schools an increase in per-pupil funding and “continues access to Ohio’s five scholarship programs,” including the state’s private school voucher program.
Many members of the House Finance Committee asked about the foundational funding for state school districts, for which the executive budget recommends a state share of 35%, with no adjustment for inflation to the “inputs” of the education costs in the formula.
Some Republicans on the committee questioned the continued use of the Cupp-Patterson funding formula (also called the Fair School Funding Plan), along with the burden of property taxes in their districts used to pay for schools.
“The school funding formula is inadequate and it’s inequitable,” claimed state Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp. “We do not award the merit of outcomes in the funding formula.”
While Dackin said he is “a fan of performance-based funding,” he reemphasized comments DeWine made about the overall budget when he introduced it: that the document was a starting point from which to build the final budget, with room for adjustments.
Dackin also pushed back on concerns from Democratic members about a lack of oversight for private schools receiving significant state monies compared with the oversight public schools receive.
“The concern for a lot of people is, what are we getting for those dollars, because we have very little oversight in how that money is being used at these schools,” said House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington.
Dackin said there is “some measure” for schools accepting scholarship money, but he has a higher measure that he takes into account.
“Every day, parents make a decision where to send their kids, and parents make decisions based on a variety of issues,” Dackin told the committee. “The ultimate accountability is where the parents send their kids.”
Literacy
Literacy is a main tenet of the governor’s education proposal, with objectives that included continuing the ReadOhio program and implementation of an Ohio Literacy Coaching Model by the Department of Education and Workforce, and further training on the Science of Reading model.
“The department supports the use of high-quality core and intervention instructional materials, provides educator professional development and supports literary coaches who provide targeted support to schools and districts,” the budget document states.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
The executive budget notes nearly 72,000 teachers and administrators have completed one of six “Science of Reading Professional Development pathways” as of Jan. 15 of this year, and 84 “literary coaches” were used during the 2024-2025 school year in 93 school districts in Ohio.
Dackin told the finance committee reading is a “lynchpin skill” that is vital to successful outcomes for Ohio’s students.
“I feel like that is our moral obligation as adults, to make sure that (bad outcomes don’t) happen in Ohio,” Dackin said. “I see no reason why Ohio can’t lead the country in literacy rates, zero.”
The science of reading is also a priority in executive budget proposals for the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. DeWine noted a goal to improve state kindergarten readiness through a 40% increase in the number of children in licensed early care and education settings “with a curriculum aligned to the science of reading and early learning and development standards,” according to the budget document.
Included in the plans from the governor to increase the numbers is the expansion of the Childcare Choice Voucher Program.
A spokesperson for the governor did not elaborate on what would be expanded about the program, but a representative of the Department of Children and Youth said the program currently uses monthly payments directly to approved licensed child care providers. Families apply for the voucher through their local county Job and Family Services Department, and eligibility for the program is determined by income, family size, and job or education status.
Families with children enrolled in licensed child care programs and monthly incomes between 146% and 200% of the federal poverty level are eligible for the voucher program, according to Kari Akins, of the children and youth department. For a family of four, that’s between $45,552 and $62,400 a year.
Federal education uncertainty
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
Legislators brought up a possible federal issue during the discussions of the executive budget: whether the U.S. Department of Education will be able to provide the usual funding, or whether the department will even exist in the near future, based on President Donald Trump’s potential executive order and comments that he plans to dismantle the department.
“We hear occasionally, from time to time in the news that there might be consideration in Washington, D.C., to change the (U.S.) Department of Education,” said state Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond. “I’m curious as to whether you’ve heard whether any changes to the U.S. Department of Education might come with changes to funding for Ohio schools.”
Dackin had a simple answer to the committee.
“We don’t know, to be honest,” Dackin said. “We’ve received no guidance at this point, no direction from the US DOE on anything related to funding.”
Prior to the budget discussion, Dackin joined education administrators from 10 other states in a Jan. 28 letter to “Administrator McMahon,” seemingly the currently-unconfirmed Trump nominee for Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, asking the new administration to “prioritize … policies that trust and empower state educational agencies to shape education systems that meet the unique needs of their students.”
Those priorities include state control of education funds and “guidance aligned with congressional intent that defers to state law and policy,” according to the letter, provided by the the Department of Education and Workforce.
“We know that the department must work with Congress to achieve many of these changes to (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) but, in the meantime, please defer to state and local decision-making as much as possible in your actions,” stated the letter, signed by Dackin and administrators from North Dakota, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Florida, Utah, Mississippi, Indiana, Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina.
The executive budget will continue through hearings in education and finance committees within the Ohio House before a legislative budget document is created, and the Ohio Senate begins its own consideration. A final budget is due by July.
