Ohio's Financial Crisis

A taxpayer's revolt has hit Ohio, where public schooling is financed through a combination of state aid and local property taxes. Taxpayers turned down 166 out of 523 proposals to increase local school levies in November and vetoed 52 more out of 99 in a special election last month. The result is a statewide financial crisis for the schools. Some closed early for Christmas vacation. Others are meeting the challenge by freezing the size of the faculty and eliminating such "frills" as art and Russian. The schools in Canton plan to cut corners by delaying next fall's opening of school by a month--a serious blow to the fans of Ohio's perennially outstanding high school football teams.

The 87,500-member Ohio Education Association, the state's dominant teachers' organization, has threatened to apply sanctions unless the legislature votes additional taxes. The O.E.A.'s first step would be to discourage teachers from teaching in Ohio. Says Stayner Brighton, the association's executive secretary: "The real problem in Ohio is that we tax at the lowest level of any state.* We think Ohioans should know that if taxed at the national average, we would provide $600 million a year more for schools."

* Ohio taxes at the rate of $7.75 per $100 of personal income v. a national average of $9.80.

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