Lakewood School Officials Offer Analysis on State Budget Developments

On Thursday, the that continues to draw controversy in light of its deep proposed cuts to state agencies, local governments and school districts.

For Lakewood City Schools alone, treasurer Rick Berdine has projected a 10 percent state funding loss through 2016, which equates to about $1.9 million per year. That figure does not include the $2.2 million they’d lose over the next two years, 2011-13, if Governor John Kasich decides to accelerate the elimination of lucrative tangible personal property tax guarantees that are handed out to all districts on an annual basis. 

However, there’s been a recent development that could help the district out, if only slightly, as the proposed budget moves to the senate for further review. 

The state has unexpectedly collected $841 million more in tax revenue when compared to last year, and some of these newfound millions could go to ease the cuts that are planned to hit school districts when the budget is finalized at the end of June. 

“Some legislators have a belief that the money could be used to stem some of the losses to school districts or even some universities,” Berdine said. “We’ll wait and see how that gets utilized to determine what type of impact it could have for Lakewood. I think when you split $814 million across the state and possibly universities, as well as K through 12, it will end up being a fairly small amount in the scope of everything that occurs.” 

“We’ll see where that gets distributed, even if it gets distributed because there’s consideration, if in fact those revenues become realized at the close of the fiscal year, that it could allow them to replenish the state’s rainy day reserve fund. So if legislators choose to do that, they obviously wouldn’t pass anything along to us.” 

There’s also a proposal in the budget, mirroring language in Senate Bill 5, to set up a new pay system for teachers that would do away with salary schedules relating to tenure and educational background and replace them with a rating system based on student performance and reviews by parents, students and administrators. 

Another hot-button issue is Kasich’s proposed pension plan, House Bill 202, which is currently working its way through the Health and Aging Committee. 

Kasich’s pension plan would offset district expenses as school personnel would contribute more (from 10 percent to 12 percent) and districts would contribute less (from 14 percent to 12 percent), assistant superintendent Jeffrey Patterson said. 

“To me, it’s all up in the air because there’s different pieces about negotiating rights of teachers in different bills. Some of it is supposedly going to end up in the budget bill and some of it in Senate Bill 5,” Superintendent Dr. Joe Madak said.

“Regarding House Bill 202, the consensus is members of the general assembly are finding pension reform to be a far more complex issue than what they had imagined, and it’s doubtful that they’ll get anything finalized by June 30.”

To stay up to date, visit Lakewood Patch for all the news on how state budget proposals may affect local education funding.