  Information Pertinent to Legislative and State Department Activities Since 1906
REPORT NO. 221, VOLUME 77-- FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2008
REPORT SAYS CHARTER SCHOOLS BENEFIT BIG CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS' PER-PUPIL FUNDINGIf charter schools were suddenly shut down, per-pupil funding would drop considerably in all eight major Ohio city school districts, the authors of a new study said Friday. While the average charter school student receives more state share funding per pupil than district schools, all of the local property tax revenue remains with the public school system when a student transfers to one of the privately operated schools, according to the report by the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank. "The question then becomes: is the local property tax revenue that's left behind by a student when they move to a charter greater or less than this marginal loss in state revenues?" co-author Matthew Carr said during a conference call with reporters. "We find that in fact the local revenue gain continues to outpace this marginal revenue loss." Every "Big 8" city school system receives a net gain in revenue, on average, for each student choosing to attend a charter school, he said. The difference ranges from $4,030 per pupil attending community schools in Cincinnati to $918 in Canton. By extension, if every charter school student returned to public schools, local districts would either have to reduce per pupil spending or seek significant property tax increases, Mr. Carr said. Of the big city school districts, Youngstown would require the largest tax increase - about $3,200 per $100,000 of home valuation - to maintain current spending levels, he said. The smallest increase - about $300 per $100,000 in property values - would be necessary in Akron. |
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