Supporters of the Cincinnati Public Schools' tax levy are optimistic about its success at the polls Tuesday. Voters rejected the past two levies sought by the school district. But this campaign has a very different feel, according to Brewster Rhoads, campaign manager for the levy.
"The support is much greater and deeper this year with the Republican Party's endorsement and Gov. Bob Taft coming at his own request to our press conference and endorsing the levy," Rhoads says.
The CPS Board of Education wants a four-year, 6.0-mill property-tax increase to raise $38.5 million a year. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $184 a year in additional taxes, according to the school district.
The money would allow CPS to cut student-teacher ratios in elementary schools. The district's average ratio is one teacher to every 22 students, but CPS spokesman Jan Lesley says some classrooms have one teacher for 30 students.
The levy also would help fund academic programs in neighborhood schools, maintain and repair facilities and compensate for inflation.
Opposition to the levy has been low-key, with few signs seen along Cincinnati streets and no radio commercials so far.
But opposition does exist, in the form of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes. In an endorsement memo, COAST chairman Jim Urling urges voters to reject the levy because CPS is not educating children.
"We have the county's highest-paid teachers and the highest per-pupil spending," Urling writes. "The Cincinnati Public Schools need to focus on paring spending growth below the rate of inflation, demanding real performance for its teachers and improving test scores, not gouging Cincinnati's over-taxed homeowners."
Anti-levy radio spots from COAST are expected to begin this week. Critics of public education often rely on comparisons of per-pupil spending in different districts to argue against funding increases. But that approach can give a distorted picture, especially if the comparison is between an urban district and suburban districts.
"You can't compare apples to oranges," Lesley says. "We have a tougher job to do."
Consider the Forest Hills School District, for example. For the past three years, Forest Hills' per-pupil spending has remained the same — $5,286. But CPS has seen an almost $1,200 increase because of state grants, Lesley says.
CPS has the fifth-highest per-pupil spending in Hamilton County, Lesley says. But the district also has the highest poverty rate.
Furthermore, CPS receives more federal grants than do surrounding suburban districts, says Forest Hills Treasurer Jim Yeager. As a result, CPS' per-pupil spending is higher.
But more federal dollars reflect the need for more special programs, such as free and reduced-price lunches. Sixty-four percent of CPS students are on that program, and almost half are recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or Ohio Works First funds. Only 1.7 percent of Forest Hills students receive similar assistance.
For a more accurate comparison, levy opponents should break down per-pupil spending and look at the percentage of money allocated toward instruction, building operation, administration, pupil support and staff-support costs, Yeager says.
Forest Hills spent 10 percent of its budget on administrative costs for the 1997 school year, while CPS spent 12 percent. But CPS has almost seven times as many students as the suburban district. For operations support — including utilities, maintenance and repairs — CPS spends 18 percent and Forest Hills spends 15 percent. But while the average age of the approximately 80 CPS buildings is 55 years, the average age of Forest Hills' eight buildings is 25 years.
Special education costs CPS $45 million a year more than the district's federal and state allocations, according to Lesley. The percentage of disabled CPS students is almost twice that of Forest Hills. Serving some disabled students costs CPS more than $50,000 each.
Levy opponents argue CPS should not get more taxpayer money until it improves test scores.
"COAST likes to say that the suburban districts get better results, but those students are better prepared," Lesley says. "If you compare us with other urban districts, we are the top."
Last year, CPS outscored all the urban districts in Ohio by 10 points on the 12th Grade Proficiency Test, Lesley says. Rhoads says the district is on the cutting edge with its curriculum redesign and new merit-based teacher compensation plan.
If the levy does not pass, CPS will face more budget cuts. After $20 million was cut last year and $13 million was cut this year, it's hard to say what another $18 million to $20 million cut would do, Lesley says.©
