WESTLAKE, Ohio - An invoice has been sent by the Westlake Board of Education to the Ohio Department of Education to recoup excess money redirected to charter schools since fiscal year 2003.
The school board believes "the state of Ohio fails to fully fund the state formula student allocation in Westlake because funds are pulled to support local charter schools," according to an April 7 press release. District Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Mark Pepera reported during the state of the schools address in March that cumulative state funding cuts impacting the Westlake City Schools have surpassed the $18 million mark since 2007.
According to district figures, the state provides $667 per student for Westlake public school children while allocating $5,800 for each charter school student. Board President Carol Winter feels that disparity is unacceptable and urges Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly "to stop the unjust system of funding charter schools, which penalizes all local public school students in the state."
"The state legislature and our governor have really siphoned away a lot of money that would normally go to public schools to the charter school movement," said Winter during an April 8 interview. "We don't believe that's fair."
Winter added that research has yielded no evidence the charter school movement "fixes anything that they say is wrong with education as a whole."
"This is definitely an ocean liner going in the wrong direction," she said when describing education funding in Ohio. "The state has, in effect, balanced the state budget but taken money for public education and given it to unproven charter schools that don't share the same accountability as the public school districts."
But is the invoice to the state real or a symbolic gesture to spur action?
"This is not a stunt. Ultimately, we just want the state to make right by us," Winter replied. "The state legislature has been directed by the Supreme Court more than once to fix school funding in Ohio, and they have not done that."
The concept of creating competition isn't necessarily at fault, Winter said, but the "uneven playing field" is.
"It makes me wonder if they're really trying to un-fund public schools," she said. "What is the end game?"
Public school districts, she added, are doing what they can by developing strategic plans that enable quality education to be offered despite the state funding gap and shrinking public school budgets.
"At the end of the day, it's about making sure our kids are college and career ready," Winter emphasized. "I know life isn't fair, but our kids deserve a fair break when it comes to educational opportunity."
A phone call seeking comment from Ohio State Board of Education District 5 representative Roslyn Painter-Goffi was not returned prior to publication.