Guest Column: School Funding is Simply Up to Us
"If we don’t do it ourselves, then education here has to suffer. When that happens, the entire community declines."
The recent Chardon Schools levy failure is another in a long list of attempts to fund and support Chardon Schools locally.
Chardon has struggled passing levies for the past 60+ years. The last really successful school issue (believe it or not) was the bond issue in 1948 to build a new school. Eighty percent of the community supported that. The high school then on the square was only 40 years old. The “new” CHS, started as an elementary school, is over 65 years old today.
Since those days, it has been a battle to get any school issue passed here. Many folks think Chardon doesn’t support its schools. The record seems to indicate that (“you can look it up.”- Yogi Berra).
Related to the issue of local support is the belief that somehow Columbus is going to help schools like Chardon as it has done, and continues to do, in other parts of the state (Ashtabula County, Cleveland, etc.). If there’s help coming, why vote yes? The problem with that thinking is that help is simply never coming.
Columbus has formulae, in large part based on real estate values, that says areas like Chardon are wealthier than other parts of the state (property here is worth more than in Ashtabula, for example). Those formulae result in a “list” of districts “entitled” to help. Chardon is in the bottom 10 percent on that list so that this area will probably never see any help from Columbus.
The legislature is saying, “If you want something, you can afford it, so pay for it yourselves. If you don’t do it for yourselves, that’s too bad.” Like it or not, that is the deal. Columbus is not the answer.
Instead, Columbus has created more problems for local schools like Chardon. Years ago, there was a tax on personal property held by businesses. Part of that tax went to help local schools. It was called a “personal property tax” that assessed a tax for things in a manufacturing factory, car dealer lot and on retail shelves. When Wal-Mart and Home Depot were proposed for Chardon, one of the selling points was that in addition to the real estate taxes from the buildings, the inventory in those stores would also produce a tax for the schools. Other businesses that didn’t have inventory weren’t taxed in that way. Sounded “great” at the time but…
The business lobby convinced the legislature that it was unfair to tax only inventory, so they began a plan to phase out the inventory/personal property tax and create a broader tax on all businesses. The new tax enacted was the Commercial Activities Tax. It was supposed to, in part, replace the personal property tax, but Columbus conveniently did not direct the new revenues back to the schools an instead kept those monies for other projects (while phasing out the old tax). No help from Columbus for schools.
The phase out of the personal property/inventory tax was done over many years and eventually resulted in Columbus still sending some money to local schools in ever smaller amounts. The past legislature decided to finally stop even that. The result for Chardon is a loss of close to a million dollars starting in 2018. That lost revenue never comes back and will never be recouped. Other districts across the state lost as well in varying amounts.
The result is that Columbus gets to keep the money. Again, there was no help for schools anywhere when the final cut hit. The Chardon school istrict will be reviewing a million dollars in cuts soon because the one million dollar loss hits the books in July with the start of the new fiscal year.
By law, the district has to balance its books. No deficit spending allowed!
There’s a theme here – Columbus doing less and less, not more for Chardon. Columbus has repeatedly said, “Do it on your own or it won’t get done,” to districts like Chardon and others in Geauga County. In a way, who should really fund our children’s education? Thinking someone else is going to do it isn’t realistic. It never has been.
Our legislators can go to Columbus and ask other representatives and senators for help all they want, but the rest of the state will look at the formulae and keep saying, “Do it yourselves.”
We look at other areas and wish we had what they have, but that is simply not going to happen unless we do it ourselves (or evolve into a depressed economic state like other areas).
If we don’t do it ourselves, then education here has to suffer. When that happens, the entire community declines. It’s like anything else in life: If you don’t pay for it, you won’t get it – at least around here!
None of the items, services or ideas listed below will come from Columbus.
- Creative, current, varied class subjects intended to better prepare our students for post high school experiences whether college, vocational education, military service or the real world of work.
- Better, newer equipment, class materials and facilities.
- Bussing that meets the needs of the students and families.
- Reduction or elimination of pay-to-play for athletics and other extracurricular activities.
- Availability of school facilities for community use, activities and events.
- Safe athletic facilities with restrooms, concession stands, parking, etc.
- Buildings that are less than 50 years old.
The only way our community and school district gets these if we want them, is to do it ourselves.
Almost every school bus you pass has the word “LOCAL” on the side. There’s a reason for that. Those busses belong to OUR school district, not Columbus.
It’s simply up to us.
Dave Jevnikar
City of Chardon
