COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- As lawmakers in Ohio debate the state budget, public school advocates say proposed cuts and policy changes could harm children's education.
"What's at stake is education for not just every single student who lives in Columbus, but every single child who lives in the state of Ohio," Ohio Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-District 4) said.
Which school issues central Ohio voters approved in May 2025 electionColumbus City Schools held a town hall meeting Wednesday night to bring together educators, lawmakers, and members of the community for a vital conversation about the state of public education and the proposed biennial state budget, including its direct impact on Columbus City Schools. Leaders made it clear that the conversation was grounded in a simple but urgent truth: fair school funding is not just a policy issue, but a justice issue.
"It is incredibly important that our legislators do their constitutional duty to fund our public schools," Columbus Board of Education Vice-President Jennifer Adair said. "Without that, we are really, really devastated in what we can do for our students here in Columbus City schools, as well as across the state."
The Fair School Funding Plan was passed in 2021. It was a bipartisan overhaul of Ohio's K-12 funding system and was created to meet the actual cost of educating every student and have the state contribute more fairly. That formula, though, is now under threat.
"This is detrimental not only to CCS, but to be honest, all public education in this state," Adair said. "So, the budget, it includes issues around vouchers. It includes the ability not to fund. It makes us give away our cash balances, our cash reserves."
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"A lot of people focus on, well, this school district in this area or this school district in this area," resident Sonja Nelson said. "But if they all do not have the opportunity to thrive, then we are not competitive as a country and that's our fault and we need to fix that."
About 90% of Ohioans send their children to public schools and around 47,000 children attend Columbus City Schools. According to leaders, those students and future generations are at stake.
"It is incredibly detrimental," Adair said. "It is very difficult then to plan and budget for what it is our children need. And it's really an opportunity to continue to just push an agenda that devalues our children and public education."
The state budget has already passed the House and is now in the Senate's hands, but leaders said it's not too late to advocate for public education. They said it's not just about numbers on a spreadsheet; it's about making sure every student has the support and resources to thrive.
According to Adair, the district could lose $123 million in funding.
Whitehall residents successfully take council-approved tax breaks to a citizen vote"Just to put that into context, our voters did what they needed to do and pass our levy, which is only 35 million," she said. "I don't want to say only; it was a sacrifice, $35 million a year, which pays for various essential services."
Lawmakers and educators stressed there are severe consequences if the state doesn't invest on the front end of a life.
"If we don't do that, what that means is that we are going to pay more and it's going to be invested in things that we don't want to be invested in, things like incarceration and in Medicaid, because we are not investing in education so that children can have opportunity to become productive and contributing members of our communities," Piccolantonio, said.
Leaders are urging the community to take action in support of fair school funding by calling and writing to state lawmakers, even challenging residents to take it a step further and educate others around them on what's at stake.
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