Following months of uncertainty, Ohio House Republicans have released their version of the state budget, which drastically cuts school funding.
After months of questions about school funding, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Finance Chair Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) decided not to fully fund public schools in their proposed amendment to the H.B. 96 budget.
Schools would require $666 million to be fully funded starting in 2021, according to Fair School Funding Plan statistics. The proposed budget only provides them with $226 million.
Based on 2025 figures and inflation, the amount of money to fund K-12 would be closer to $800 million, according to new data from public school advocates such as former lawmaker John Patterson.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Republican leaders provided an overview of their substitute bill. Reporters were not given the legislation ahead of time, and we did not receive it during the event, so questions were based on what the lawmakers said without specifics.
In January, Huffman threatened to cut public education spending, claiming that the state lacks the budget and that the amount promised to schools this year is “unsustainable.” Instead, they reduced $351 million.
For a further in-depth recap of education funding, click here .
This comes as Gov. Mike DeWine fully funded public education in his version of the budget.
When the governor proposed the budget, he projected it to be $108 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $110 billion in fiscal year 2027, for a total of $218 billion.
The GOP legislators’ proposal isn’t final, but it’s unlikely to change significantly before it passes out of the House and into the Senate next week.
