Scherer & Patterson announce press conference on school funding bill
State Representatives John Patterson (D-Jefferson) and Gary Scherer (R-Circleville) announced that they will hold a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 6 to discuss a bill pertaining to Ohio’s school funding.
Substitute House Bill 305 would provide a comprehensive revision of Ohio’s primary and secondary school funding system. The original version of the bill was introduced in the spring of 2019 after more than 18 months of work led by 16 active Ohio educators under the direction of recently elected Speaker of the House Bob Cupp and Patterson.
Given Speaker Cupp’s newly expanded responsibilities, Scherer, the current Vice Chair of the House Finance Committee, has become the new primary co-sponsor of the legislation.
Following the introduction of the original bill last year and a series of hearings in the House, Cupp and Patterson, along with their education colleagues, went back to work to address some of the suggestions made during committee and by other educators. The result is a substitute bill that includes improvements in funding for transportation and aid to economically disadvantaged students, Education Service Centers and community schools.
Sub. HB 305 also modifies the state’s method for distributing its aid to school districts, with an emphasis on providing additional assistance to lower capacity districts.
Scherer and Patterson have recently completed a series of meetings with fellow legislators to acquaint them with the sub bill’s new provisions and their plans to pass the bill before the end of this legislative session so that it can act as a template for future funding of schools following the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Category: Education
