By Fritz Edelstein and Laura Grossman
March 28, 2005

The Ohio Mayors' Roundtable met March 10 for the third time in less than a year to discuss the mayoral role in education in their cities and the state. Initially, the Roundtable comprised the mayors from Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown. As a result of the discussions during the first two meetings, the mayors realized the need to include mayors from all of the Urban 21 cities designated by the Ohio State Department of Education. An invitation was extended to each one.

Attending this Roundtable were host Toledo Mayor Jack Ford, Conference President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien, Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland and East Cleveland Mayor Saratha Goggins.

The mayors focused their discussion on the issue of school finance in Ohio, a very tough issue in states and localities across the country. Forty-five states, including Ohio, have had court cases concerned with the equity and adequacy of funding public education. Ohio's Supreme Court found that the system was unconstitutional, but the state legislature has yet to act to fix it. As a result, there continues to be a problem with both equity and adequacy of funding and the complete reliance on personal property taxes at the local level. The Ohio mayors were appalled that, despite the court cases, their state is one of only four to not have made any legislative progress on school funding. Also, the mayors do not feel anyone has taken a leadership role on a very critical issue.

Paolo DeMaria from the Ohio State Department of Education and John Myers of Augenblick Palaich and Associates from Denver provided background on this issue. DeMaria provided a state overview of the situation and Myers discussed the national school finance scene and specific state strategies. The presentation and ensuing discussion stimulated several ideas and concerns.

The mayors heard that Ohio is a microcosm for education issues and local leadership roles in our country. Campbell stated, "One sees every concern in the United States in the state of Ohio." One of Ohio's problems in tackling this issue is that there are over 600 different school districts and a host of problems. But solving this issue could become a model for the entire country.

Campbell is the sole Ohio mayor who controls her local school district, and the others do not aspire to do so. They do, however, all have strong leadership roles in their communities. Campbell stressed, "There is a difference between direct authority and responsibility. But no matter what, every mayor feels that they have a responsibility to the people they represent to make sure that education is the best it can be in their city." Plusquellic summarized many of the feelings in the room by saying, "Mayors have a leadership responsibility in this issue when no one else comes to take the lead. In the end, the citizens will be looking to us for solutions and we need to think about what we can do to help find a viable approach to adequately fund education in the state of Ohio and insure that every child has then same chance to succeed."

At the press conference, a clear consensus was expressed by all of the participating mayors. Coleman stated, "There is a void at the state level to create positive reform on the issue. Thus, the mayors must step up and take the lead on something that is of utmost importance to every Ohio child." The mayors agreed to have another meeting in the next few months and include their local school superintendents in the conversation on Ohio school finance.

The Roundtable continues to be made possible by grants from foundations including The KnowledgeWorks Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The Gund Foundation, and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.