December 14, 1977

Judge Sets Education Time Bomb Ticking

A judge in Cincinnati has set a time-bomb ticking under Ohio's educational system, and it is doubtful if any one can defuse the explosion.

The present method of funding public schools through property taxes is unconstitutional says Paul E. Riley, a Clinton County common pleas judge sitting for a case in Hamilton County.

The Cincinnati school board had filed suit a year ago against the State Education Department complaining that students in wealthier school districts received better education than students in poorer ones.

The court agreed that students are entitled to an "equal" education and ordered the state legislature to devise a funding equalization plan by next July.

It is a controversial ruling in that the Ohio Constitution requires only that the state legislature provide a "thorough and efficient system of common schools."  Judge Riley relies on an Ohio Supreme Court decision that a "thorough" school system could not be one "starved for funds."

The situation is another example of legislation by the judiciary - where the courts seek to implement the opinion of a few judges to correct deficiencies they feel are overlooked by elected representatives.

It is interesting to note how the various courts extend the law by reinforcing the rulings of each other.

In the present instance the Ohio Supreme Court takes the law to the edge of logic by decreeing that lack of money is the same as lack of thoroughness.  A lower court then extends "thorough" to "equal" and - presto - we have a matter that can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, federal intervention and eventual nation-wide jurisdiction.

Judge Riley has opened a big can of worms that will not be easily untangled.

Since the founding of the nation, public schools have been financed with property taxes.  In the beginning, of course, public schools concentrated on the "three Rs", and nearly all wealth was concentrated in land.

Today, schools are required to teach auto driving, social studies, sports, sex facts; and to provide such services as counseling, career guidance, nursing, and remedial therapy.  Wealth is concentrated more and more in industry and rental properties.

As a result of changes over the years, state legislatures have supplemented property taxes with state aid from general funds to keep the schools operating.  In Ohio, 38 percent of school operating funds come from the state and 62 percent from property taxes.

Everyone agrees that property owners have been taxed to the limit.  The burden is regressive to the point that ownership declines and the remaining taxpayers - industrial and private - flee to areas that promise a measure of relief.  The result is starvation of the big cities and relative improvement of suburban school systems.

Of course, no one complained for two centuries when city schools provided a better education than rural districts.  But, that's another story.

It appears that the courts, in Ohio and elsewhere, want school financing handled on a state-wide basis so all monies collected can be apportioned out on an equal amount per pupil.

This appears so democratic - every pupil sharing equally.  Yet, the rights of those parents who want to give their children a better-than-average education will be denied.

Courts in California, Connecticut and New Jersey have already held that the imbalance between rich and poor school districts are unconstitutional.

The state of Maine legislated state-wide school funding four years ago, but voters there repealed the law last week by a four to three margin.

Russell Vlaanderen, director of research for the Education Commission of the States, believes there is "bound to be a backlash" against the Maine-type equalization tax.  "People don't like the Robin Hood syndrome" of robbing wealthy or sacrificing school districts to pay for poor or stingy areas.

The governor of Maine still believes in state-wide financing and will attempt to keep the concept going with some kind of "new taxes" yet to be devised.

Such an approach probably will have to be used by the Ohio Legislature if expected appeals to Judge Riley's block buster are denied.

There is an alternative to high taxes and equalization formulas, but it is favored only by taxpayers who don't count for much these days.  That alternative is a decrease in the role of the schools.

Another possible solution would be placing industrial and utility property taxes entirely into a state school fund, with private property taxes reserved for the "extras" some school districts may want.

Whatever system is ultimately chosen, the state's participation must be held to a minimum.

Local school boards, elected locally, are our last bastion to oppressive government control.

Author: Lindsey Williams