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Education

Shortchanging Disadvantaged Students: An Analysis of Intra-district Spending Patterns in Ohio

One of the reasons that school finance has remained such a central issue in Ohio is the continued poor performance of high-poverty schools. Despite prolonged legislative activity, the achievement gap between white and minority students and between property-rich and property-poor school districts persists. The lack of progress is all the more troubling given the steady increases in overall funding to the system.

Education

Highlights of Florida’s Experience with McKay

With 17,000 students participating after only six years of full operation, the McKay Scholarship program in Florida appears to be a program serving very well at least the most motivated and informed of special needs parents.The verdict is out on how well the program serves just as deserving parents...

Economic Growth

The 2006 Ohio Piglet Book

The Buckeye Institute teams up with Citizens Against Government Waste again to produce the 2006 Ohio Piglet Book.

Our 2006 edition features an examination of the state's $22 billion non-GRF budgets which grew at a little noticed 10% rate in 2006 over 2005.

Education

Segregation Levels in Cleveland Public Schools and the Cleveland Voucher Program

This study compares the levels of segregation in Cleveland public schools to private schools participating in Cleveland's voucher program. It also compares segregation levels between public and private schools in the 100 largest cities in the United States. The study is being released jointly by the Buckeye Institute and the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation.

Economic Growth

An Economic Analysis of a Proposal to Legalize Casino Gambling in Ohio

Preface to the 2006 reprint In November 2006, an initiative will be placed on Ohio’s ballot called the Learn and Earn Amendment.  The measure will allow slot machines to be installed at seven racetracks around Ohio, and three casinos to be constructed, two in Cleveland and one in...

Education

The Determinants of Student Achievement in Ohio’s Public Schools

This policy report rigorously analyzes the factors most commonly thought to affect student achievement. It uses quantitative econometric techniques to separate the factors that truly matter from the ones that only distract policy makers from effective change. This study breaks new ground by also analyzing the factors that influence student performance in charter schools.

Education

Lessons for Improving Ohio’s EdChoice Voucher Program

In order to draw lessons on how to improve Ohio’s new EdChoice voucher program, this report looks at the processes for participating in the Milwaukee and Cleveland voucher programs. From these comparisons it is clear that there are still important ways in which the EdChoice program can be made easier to use.

Education

The Financial Impact of Ohio’s Charter Schools

This brief fiscal analysis of charter schools shows that, because of the nature of Ohio’s school funding system, these schools are actually creating increased per pupil revenues for the urban areas they are most likely to be located in. Also, the fiscal data shows that charter schools, on average, operate at a lower cost than their urban counterparts, thus relieving stress on the state budget.

Technology

When Government Competes with Private Enterprise: How Lebanon, Ohio Got into the Telecommunications Business

This report looks at the history of the Lebanon, Ohio municipal telecommunications system. Specifically, it examines how the city interacts with its rival cable company, the financial costs of the system, how the low prices produced by the system are offset by the high cost of the system to taxpayers, and what policy makers can learn from Lebanon’s venture.

Education

Using the Ohio Proficiency Test to Analyze the Academic Achievement of Charter School Students: 2002-2004

Using Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT) data from 2002 to 2004, this study of Ohio charter school performance finds that charter schools are making greater gains than their traditional public school counterparts on many of the subject tests. On several of the tests, charter schools are performing as well as their neighboring public schools, and in no case are charter schools doing worse than their traditional public school counterparts.

Economic Growth

2005 Ohio Piglet Book

The Buckeye Institute, with the help of Citizens Against Government Waste, has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of Ohio’s budget and spending plans to see if Columbus has ceased its feckless ways. After ferreting out almost $3.5 billion of pork and waste in this budget, it is clear that our elected officials may not understand what fiscal constraint means to those who have to pay the tab.

Education

The Case for Community Schools in Ohio

The debate over Ohio's community, or "charter", school experiment has reached new levels of contentiousness. The Ohio General Assembly is actively considering a permanent cap on the total number of community schools as a result.

An analysis of community school funding and state expenditures, however, suggests that many of the arguments used by their opponents are flawed or incorrect.

Economic Growth

Policy Report: Should Ohio Limit Government Spending and Taxes?

Abstract

The state and local tax burden on the average Ohioan has risen dramatically over the past twenty-five years. By most accounts, Ohio has evolved from a state with one of the nation’s lowest tax burdens to a state with one of the highest, with significant consequences.

One possible solution to this problem is for Ohioans to adopt a Tax and Expenditure Limitation, or TEL. These limitations exist in 27 states and have been effective in restraining state and local government spending under the right conditions.

The experiences of these and other states suggest to Ohioans that there are three requirements for an effective TEL: the TEL should be part of Ohio’s constitution and limits should not be amended without approval of voters; state government spending and revenue growth should be limited to inflation plus population growth (not personal income growth); and surpluses should be automatically directed to a rainy day fund or, over certain minimum thresholds, refunded back to taxpayers.

Economic Growth

Should Ohio Limit Government Spending and Taxes?

Ohio's state government spending increased by three times the inflation rate between 1994 and 2002. At this clip, the state government budget would double every 14 years. More importantly, this rate of growth outstrips income growth and exceeds our ability to pay for it. The result? Government spending as a share of Ohio's economy has increased rapidly since 1980. Ohio left the ranks of low-tax states in 1994 and has been one of the highest tax states in the nation since 2000.

For many, the only practical and realistic solution is to try what other states have already pioneered: adopt a binding constitutional limit on how much state and local governments can spend. These initiatives are also called Tax and Expenditure Limitations, or TELs.

Quality Growth

The Peril and Promise of Smart Growth: Is Ohio Ready for Regional Planning?

Ohio policymakers should take a skeptical look at Smart Growth proposals that strengthen conventional urban planning and regionalize land-use planning. Support for comprehensive land-use planning is often based more on hope than experience. In reality, Smart Growth is a political movement not a consistent approach to land-use planning. As a result, many Smart Growth proposals focus more on restricting growth than accommodating growth and run the very real risk of severely restricting housing choices for Ohioans, raising housing prices, and over politicizing the land development process.

Technology

Telecommunications Policy in Ohio: Frequently Asked Questions

In his State of the State speech, Ohio Governor Bob Taft challenged Ohio policymakers to ensure that "every decision we make in state government is taken with consideration of its impact on jobs and Ohio's economy." Telecommunications policy is one area where policymakers can help encourage job creation by advocating reformation of our nation's telecom laws and taking action where possible at the state level. This policy brief provides answers to some frequently asked questions about telecommunications policy.

Economic Growth

New Directions for Fiscal Policy in Ohio: Citizen Attitudes Towards Spending and Taxation

Ohio's budget crisis has prompted elected officials in Ohio to consider various approaches to fiscal policy reform. Lawmakers have two basic strategies available: spending restraint or tax reform. Unfortunately, recent policy discussions have not reflected popular support or understanding of these issues. Most of the discussion has been "inside the beltway" and therefore isolated from the perspective of the state's voters. This report bridges the gap between spending trends and citizen support for fiscal policy reforms. Overall, Ohioans are deeply concerned about the direction of the State, and economic concerns rank among their most important worries.

Economic Growth

Five Steps to Fundamental Tax Reform: A Pro-Growth Blueprint

By Samuel R. Staley, Ph.D. and Joshua C. Hall

Ohio policymakers are at a crossroads on tax reform. Ohio's current tax burden ranks among the highest in the nation, stifling economic growth and job creation. The tax system can be changed to promote private investment and job creation by adopting fundamental reforms that improve transparency, equity, and consistency in the tax code.

Economic Growth

Should Electronic Slot Machines Fill the Budget Gap? An Assessment of Ohio Voter Attitudes

Ohio's budget crisis has prompted elected officials in Ohio to consider various approaches to tax reform. Unfortunately, these discussions have occurred without a gauge of popular support. This report is the first of two by The Buckeye Institute that assesses Ohio citizen concerns about tax reform and fiscal policy in Ohio. This report focuses on attitudes toward video lottery terminals, or VLTs. VLTs are electronic slot machines that would be placed at Ohio race tracks. Proponents argue they will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the state government.

Economic Growth

Income Tax Progressivity in Ohio

Economic research shows that a high degree of income tax progressivity harms economic growth and increases the variability of a state’s income tax revenue. In other words, a state with a highly progressive income tax code, such as Ohio’s, will have lower economic growth and greater swings in income tax revenue than states with less progressive income tax systems.

Economic Growth

Decentralizing Federal Employment: Feasibility and Impact on Ohio Cities

The Federal Government is facing a human capital "crisis."� The average federal employee is 45 years old and by 2004 over 50 percent of the workforce -900,000 employees-will be eligible to retire. Approximately 71 percent of the current federal workforce will be eligible to retire by 2010. More importantly, the challenge of replacing these workers is more daunting than ever.

While the Federal Government is beginning to grapple with these issues, few are considering decentralization of federal agency functions as an option. This is unfortunate for several reasons. First, moving to a city with a lower cost of living would increase the attractiveness of current government compensation. Second, relocating agency functions away from Washington, D.C. could have national security implications in the post-September 11th environment. Third, decentralization could help to improve the perspective of some agencies often accused of being "out of touch"� with main street America. Finally, decentralization of federal functions and their workforce can have substantial economic benefits for the receiving cities.

This study focuses on the potential economic benefits of relocating federal agencies, divisions, and jobs to urban areas outside of Washington, D.C.

Healthcare

Reforming Medicaid In Ohio: A Framework for Using Consumer Choice and Competition to Spur Improved Outcomes

Ohio’s spending on health care for low-income families, the disabled, and the elderly is enormously expensive. With 2003 direct spending of over $7.5 billion on the state’s Medicaid program, and a combined budget of more than $10 billion, the program costs taxpayers almost $661 per year for every man, woman and child in the state ($2,644 per year for a family of four). Direct Medicaid costs are expected to increase by 66 percent over the next three years.

Education

Education Empowerment Zones: Revitalizing Ohio's Cities through School Choice

Research shows that parents want to live where they have access to good schools. The declining quality of Ohio’s urban public schools, among other factors, has led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of residents in recent decades. Poor school quality may be one of the most important obstacles...

Quality Growth

The Impact of Highways and Other Major Road Improvements on Urban Growth in Ohio

Urban sprawl is an important element in the public policy arena. Statewide sprawl initiatives are increasingly common across the country, and elected positions have possibly been won or lost largely because of candidate’s positions on the issue. As a result, easy answers to what causes sprawl are sought so that easy solutions can in turn be proffered. The idea that sprawling development is the direct result of highways is a good example. But do the facts support the allegation?

This study carefully reviewed the magnitude and location of growth in 20 of Ohio’s urbanized areas to isolate the impact of major road improvements on growth patterns. The study concludes that major road improvements are not strongly correlated with tract growth. The greater determinant of growth within Ohio’s urban regions is a tract’s prior population density.

Economic Growth

Grinding to a Halt - Ohio's Tax Policy and its Impact on Economic Growth

Ohio has rapidly increased its tax burden in the last generation, while its economic performance has been among the poorest of the American states. These two phenomena are closely related.

Ohio’s tax burden rose over 20 percent in the two decades after 1977, moving Ohio from 50th to 22nd in total burden – from last in the nation to above the national median; Ohio’s rate in personal income growth was barely one-half the nation’s average over the last several decades, and per capita income has gone from above the national average to well below it; Scores of scholarly studies show that when taxes are increased, the growth in income, jobs, and new business starts declines; Econometric evidence suggests that had Ohio’s tax burden not risen after 1977, personal income per person would have been more than $1,000 higher in 1997 – or nearly $12 billion annually for all Ohioans; The evidence is clear that income taxes are particularly devastating in terms of destroying income; Ohio relies far more heavily on individual income taxes than the national average or peer industrial states.

A growth policy for Ohio would call for phased reduction or elimination of major taxes, especially the income tax.

Education

High School Graduation Rates in Ohio

Graduation rates continue to be a universal barometer of school quality. Assuming equivalent graduation standards, schools that graduate a higher percentage of students should be viewed as more effective than those that graduate a lower percentage.

A 2001 study published by the Manhattan Institute, however, found that reported graduation rates may not accurately measure school success. Many of the nation’s largest public school districts, including Cleveland and Columbus, reported graduation rates that were misleading and/or inaccurate.

This study updates and expands the previous Manhattan Institute analysis by calculating and reporting reliable and straightforward public school district graduation rates for Ohio’s 50 largest school districts.

Education

Empowering Parents: Using Ohio's Tax Code to Promote Choice and Innovation in Ohio's Public Schools

Ohio has been a leader in efforts to return control of education to parents. This policy study proposes to build upon that legacy through the development of statewide tuition tax credits.

Quality Growth

Urban Sprawl and Quality Growth in Ohio

Urban sprawl has surged to the forefront of local policy debate in Ohio. Concerns about the loss of open space, farm productivity, traffic congestion, and rising public-service costs have led many to demand more government control over land development. On the state level, concern about sprawl has led to large-scale government funding for open space protection and environmental clean-up as well as new planning mandates to protect agriculture. On the local level, more communities are adopting
restrictive growth control policies to slow the pace of development.

This study provides a rational analysis of economic, demographic, and land-use trends in Ohio and their relationship to key concerns all Ohioans have about the pace and pattern of land development in Ohio.

Education

After DeRolph III: Who Makes Public Policy in Ohio, the Legislature or the Courts?

The Ohio Supreme Court’s recent decision in the school funding case has refocused attention on the role of the judiciary in our society. It is the latest in a line of recent cases where Ohio’s highest court has moved from the traditional role of case adjudication to becoming the final authority on various public policy matters in Ohio, including school funding, taxation, state spending, tort reform, workers’ compensation reform and others.

This systematic usurpation of legislative authority by the court violates bedrock constitutional principles, undermines the independence of Ohio’s judiciary, and should lead to specific action by the General Assembly to reassert itself as a coequal branch of government and reestablish the traditional American form of government in Ohio.

Economic Growth

Making Sense of the Ohio Estate Tax

Ohio’s population and aggregate personal income growth has lagged behind the national average and other states in the Midwest because of Ohio’s poor tax and fiscal policies, including itspunitive estate tax. If Ohio desires to regain its competitive edge, an appropriate starting point would be to repeal the Ohio estate tax. This action would send a message that those with significant assets will not be punished or chased to other states and will encourage investment in Ohio.

Economic Growth

Tax Reform for Ohio's New Millenium

This report considers the implications of relying on income taxation as a major source of revenue for financing state government. The report argues income tax cuts are needed to ensure the long term prosperity of the state.

Education

Missing the Bus: An Analysis of Taking Them for a Ride: An Assessment of the Privatization of School Transportation

The following is an assessment of Taking Them for a Ride: An Assessment of the Privatization of School Transportation in Ohio’s Public School Districts, a study authored by Mark Cassell, Kent State University associate professor of political science. The study was funded and presented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) on May 16, 2000.

Education

Choice and Community: The Racial, Economic, and Religious Context of Parental Choice in Cleveland

Despite the claims of critics, school choice in Cleveland contributes to racial integration by providing families with access to private schools that, on average, are better racially integrated than are the public schools in the Cleveland metropolitan area.

Quality Growth

If You Build It, Will They Ride?: The Potential of Rail Transit in Ohio’s Major Cities

Is taxpayer-financed rail transit a worthwhile investment? If rail transit is built, will Ohioans even ride it? And do market solutions exist to address transit concerns? These are the questions facing policymakers in many of Ohio’s cities.

Lured by federal money and spurred by federal pressure, many transportation planners seek to enhance the role of public transit – and rail transit in particular – as a means of reducing traffic congestion and improving mobility. But whether rail will indeed achieve these goals is open to question.

Healthcare

Mental Health Meddling: The Effects of Mental Health Parity Legislation in Ohio

Mental health parity legislation in Ohio would likely raise premium costs for employers and employees.

The actual beneficiaries from mental health parity legislation would probably be a small group of high-cost users. According to most studies of who uses mental health care, these users would likely be educated, high-income, middle-aged, white, and female.

Research shows that previous mandates enacted in 1993 (including guaranteed renewal, guaranteed issue, limits on pre-existing condition exclusions, and certain premium rate restrictions) could have caused 297,000 more Ohioans to become uninsured.

Healthcare

Medical Savings Accounts: A How To Guide for Ohio Businesses and Employees

Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) were the precursor to today's Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). This study of these early efforts to develop a consumer-driven health care market offers a detailed look into how the tools work, and the logic behind their creation.

Education

Giving Choice a Chance: Cleveland and the Future of School Reform

In June of 1994, Ohio Governor George Voinovich signed into law the country’s first voucher program to include sectarian schools. Voucher programs allow student-recipients and their parents to use government funds reserved for education to choose a public or private school. Ohio’s program targeted several thousand low-income residents of Cleveland for eligibility. Bringing school choice to inner-city Cleveland was the result of the persistent legislative efforts of lawmakers, grassroots activists and school reformers statewide. In light of the growth of the nationwide movement for school choice, Ohio’s experience offers key lessons for school reformers both in and outside of the Buckeye state.

Education

Children First: A Discussion Paper on Public School Finance and Education Reform in Ohio

In March, 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court mandated a complete overhaul of the state's system of public school finance. This discussion paper outlines a framework for a child-centered education approach to meeting the Supreme Court requirements and implementing effective, system-wide school reform.

Economic Growth

Taxicab Regulation in Ohio's Largest Cities

Ohio's largest cities impose numerous regulatory burdens on the start up and operation of taxicab businesses. The regulations often prohibit small, independent operators from starting a taxi business. This limits economic opportunities in Ohio's major cities. Additionally, the regulations severely limit service and price competition among taxi companies.

Meanwhile, other U.S. cities have found success in deregulating their taxi markets, Within the first six months of deregulation, Indianapolis had 32 new companies start up. In Denver, four entrepreneurs sued the State of Colorado in order to start their own company. "Freedom Cabs" became the first cab company in 48 years to open up in Denver and now employs 100 drivers.

Education

Competitive Contracting in Ohio Public Schools

Ohio schools spends billions on non-instructional services, including operations and maintenance, transportation, food service, and district general administration.

Spending constraints are driving school boards and superintendents to look for new ways to reduce costs. One option is to outsource services. This study reports and analyzes the results of a state-wide survey of school district contracting activity and finds that Ohio could achieve significant cost savings through further outsourcing.

Education

Public School Funding in Ohio: Is it Really That Unequal?

This report examines the education funding inequality issue and concludes that Ohio's system of funding is much more equal than most people realize, according to data and classifications used by the Ohio Department of Education.