Folks in Cleveland have to wonder what they have to do to get in Gov. John Kasich's good graces. Remember last year they did the Cleveland Plan, which they implemented in conjunction with Kasich and the legislature.
Kasich and the legislative leadership couldn't say enough nice things about Mayor Frank Jackson and his plan to transform Cleveland schools. Whether it will is another story for another day. They said, "Look to Cleveland" for the future of education reform. They couldn't support it enough. Well, except they wouldn't put any money into it, which was always the biggest problem with it.
Did you see what Kasich did to Cleveland in his new budget? On top of cutting them by about $55 million in his first budget, Kasich's new funding formula puts Cleveland on a $63 million a year guarantee, which Kasich has said repeatedly he wants to eliminate.
Cleveland voters passed a 15-mill levy last year to make up the lost state revenue. Will they be able to pass another 20-ish mill levy ($600 per $100,000 home) in the next couple of years to make up for Kasich's elimination of the guarantee on top of that?
In short, the Kasich Administration has either cut, or proposed to cut, state funding to Cleveland by nearly $120 million. Astonishing.
Wonder if Frank Jackson will say anything about this.
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