STATE OF OHIO SCHOOLS 2023 - A legacy of neglect — and how to overcome it

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

State of Ohio Schools 2023 examines how Ohio’s K-12 public schools are funded in the most recent budget, analyzes staffing and critical performance metrics, and outlines new legislation affecting education statewide. It highlights how COVID-19 impacts and Ohio’s legacy of inadequate, inequitable funding weaken schools’ role as a foundational public institution. The report calls for policy recommendations requiring action from Columbus to secure world-class education and fair resources for every student, including rural communities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Ohio schools at a glance

Schooling options and enrollment

Student diversity in public schools

K-12 in the budget

Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP)

Foundation funding and timelines

September 2023 K-12 Education State of Ohio Schools 2023 A legacy of neglect — and how to overcome it Tanisha Pruitt, Ph.D. Cassie Mohr STATE OF OHIO SCHOOLS 2023 Ohio’s students deserve a world-class education, including safe and well-resourced schools that are staffed with teachers who are well trained and fairly paid. Providing that education is our shared responsibility, and we all share its benefits as well: Every family does better when the next generation is prepared for the future, every community is enhanced when its young people are engaged, curious and active participants, and every boss wants a highly qualified hiring pool. However, the combined effects of the COVID pandemic and Ohio’s legacy of inadequate, inequitable funding have weakened the role school plays as a foundational public institution.1 Ohio ranks 21st in the nation for K-12 education,2 46th for equitable distribution of funding,3 and 40th in starting teacher salaries.4 Ohio public schools educate 1.7 million students across racial, gender, socioeconomic and geographic lines — and every one of them deserves better. This report describes how Ohio’s schools are funded in the mostrecent budget, examines staffing issues, summarizes critical performance metrics and identifies new legislation that will impact education throughout the state. We provide policy recommendations that will make our schools better places to learn, grow, teach and work. Most of our recommendations require leaders in Columbus to take action. We’ve seen time and againthat they will do so only when Ohioans come together — despite attempts to divide us — to demand every child in Ohio gets the world-class education they deserve. POLICYMATTERSOHIO.ORG 1 STATE OF OHIO SCHOOLS 2023 Ohio schools at a glance This report focuses largely on public schools, which enrolled 88.6% of Ohio students as of October 2022.5 Aside from the small share of students who were home-schooled (2.7%), the remainder of Ohio students were enrolled in private schools (8.8%) In 2021, about 46% of those students received a publicly-funded voucher — such as the EdChoice Scholarship — to pay for their private school tuition.6 Private schools are largely concentrated in the counties with larger populations, with 11 rural counties in Ohio having no private schools whatsoever. Divestments from public education at the state level hurt public school students everywhere — especially those in rural counties.7 Figure 1 Public enrollment as reported by ODE is the sum of enrollment numbers for traditional public districts, community schools (known as “charter schools” in other states), joint vocational school districts, and STEM schools. Public & private enrollment data from ODE's Oct 2022 headcount. Home school enrollment data are the most recent available from ODE, collected in September, 2021: [https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-Education-Options/Home](https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-Education-Options/Home)Schooling POLICYMATTERSOHIO.ORG 2 STATE OF OHIO SCHOOLS 2023 Ohio’s public schools are somewhat more racially diverse than the state overall: Whereas white people make up around 80% of Ohioans, 67.2% of public school students are white.8 Black Ohioans make up 13.3% of Ohio’s population but Black students make up 16.4% of the student body.9 Similarly, the total Hispanic10 population in Ohio is 4. 5%, but Latino11 students account for 7.3% of students in public schools.12 Asian students account for 2. 8% and nearly 5. 9% are multiracial.13 Figure 2 Category names are taken from ODE's original report. They do not correspond to terms used by the U.S. Census Bureau or, typically, by Policy Matters Ohio. Data from ODE's Oct 2022 headcount. Ohio educates large numbers of children who are classified as “disabled,”14 “gifted,”15 and/or “English Learners,”16 and many identified as “economically disadvantaged,”17 “homeless,”18 and / or “children of migrant workers.”19 These broad, o

FAQs

What does State of Ohio Schools 2023 focus on?

It focuses on how Ohio’s schools are funded in the latest budget, staffing issues, critical performance metrics, and legislation that will affect education across the state.

Why does the report say Ohio’s funding model harms districts?

It explains that reliance on local property taxes leaves low-income communities underfunded and students at a disadvantage compared with peers in wealthier districts.

What is the Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP) intended to change?

The FSFP is described as setting Ohio on a path to fix unconstitutional education funding by reducing dependence on local property taxes, removing district funding caps, and basing funding on per-pupil cost estimates.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah