Ohio Stays Mired in the Middle of National Rankings after Ranking 5th Best in 2010

Some out there think this doesn't mean much because of changes in the way Education Week has rated state school systems, but once again, Ohio ranks 22nd nationally for education excellence among the 50 states in EdWeek's annual Quality Counts report, down from 5th in 2010.

I tend to think that dropping from 5th to 22nd is kind of a bad thing. But my friends at Fordham are defending the drop, even suggesting it's not even a drop at all. Why? Because EdWeek changed the way it calculated quality between 2010 and 2018. To suggest the drop is an issue is "intellectually dishonest," they claim.

So, for example, the de-emphasizing of standards and the fact other states caught up to us on those measures means that really we were probably 22nd back in 2010, just as we are today. At least, that's their argument.

Beyond the rank speculation that entails, it completely ignores one incredibly important fact: In 2009, Ohio had adopted the Evidence Based Model of school funding, which promised an additional $3.1 billion in state funding over the next 10 years. Full disclosure, I helped improve and pass the EBM in 2009 while serving as chairman of the Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee on the House Finance and Appropriations Committee.

However, because Democrats had created the funding model, newly minted Republican Gov. John Kasich, fulfilling a campaign promise, came into office with less than 50% of the vote and immediately eliminated the EBM, crushing any hope that Ohioans had of actually meeting the state's constitutional mandate of providing a thorough and efficient system of public common schools.

Not only did he fail to fulfill the $3.1 billion promise, he immediately cut $1.8 billion from education and continues to provide less funding today, adjusted for inflation, than was provided to kids in districts during the Great Recession. All while the state's biennial budget has ballooned from $50 billion in 2009 to about $65 billion last year.

One other state in 2010 had adopted the EBM -- Wyoming. Since 2010, Wyoming has jumped in the Quality Counts rankings from 33rd to 7th in 2018. A major driver of that improvement has been Wyoming's continued and significant commitment to funding its schools equitably and adequately. In fact, it's the only state in the union that received an A in education finance (a category that remains the same in both years) from Quality Counts in 2018.

Not Massachusetts.

Not Connecticut.

Not Maryland.

Wyoming -- the most conservative state in the union. I know, right?

If Ohio had stuck with its funding plan from 2010, there is little doubt that this state today would rank up with -- and possibly higher than --  Wyoming overall. Ohio's education finance score is 3.8 percent lower today than it was in 2010, when Ohio actually earned a B for equity, but because of the Recession, Ohio ranked low on adequacy in 2010.

If its score was the same as Wyoming's today, rather than 16 points lower, that would easily offset any of the changes Fordham and others try to use to excuse the state's drop.

This is not a matter of speculation.

It is a fact.

If Ohio had stayed on its funding path from 2010, the state would be ranked far higher today than it currently is. And, more importantly, Ohio's students would have more access to the world-class educations they deserve, regardless of where they live.

That's not being intellectually dishonest.

It is telling the truth.

Ohio: The Mediocre Heart of it All

It seems like I write this every year when the Education Week Quality Counts report comes out. There's Ohio, right in the middle of the national rankings. Again. Yawn.

This year, we rated 22nd overall. Last year, 23rd.

It wasn't always this way. In 2010, we ranked 5th best education system in the country.

Then in 2011, we had an historic, $1.8 billion funding cut to education -- a cut that hasn't been replaced in many parts of the state, even now, despite the state spending about $10 billion more overall than it spent in 2010.

But I digress.

Once again, though, the rankings demonstrate just how close Ohio came to being a national education leader rather than a laggard. In 2010, we had the Evidence Based Model of school funding -- a system that for the first time promised to reduce the state's reliance on property taxes -- the key to the state's constitutional mandate. In fact, 2010 has been the only time on record that more state than local money paid for public education. The model and other education reforms won the state the prestigious Frank Newman Award from the bipartisan Education Commission of the States, which is awarded every year to the nation's most "bold, courageous" education policy reforms of the year.

However, Gov. Kasich eliminated the EBM as one of his first acts. Since then, Ohio's rankings have plummeted.

There was one state that kept its version of the EBM. Wyoming. In 2010, that state ranked 34th nationally. Today? It's 7th. And it's the only state in the country to receive an A (A-) in school finance.

Think elections don't matter?

Ohio's Education Rank Slips Again Under Kasich

I really try to avoid being political here. But politicians tend to tout their educational bona fides on the campaign trail. A lot. So when Education Week's national Quality Counts rankings come out, politicians trumpet their height or pooh-pooh their depth, depending on where the rankings land.

Well, in Ohio, under John Kasich, Ohio has gone from the 5th best rated education system in 2010 to the 23th best this year -- the only state rated in the top 5 in 2010 to have fallen more than 10 spots, and the only state in the top 5 to now rate outside the top 12.

In 2010, Ohio could crow about its education policy achievements. The state had just passed a landmark education reform plan that won the Frank Newman Award from the Education Commission of the States, reserved for the country's most "bold, courageous, non-partisan" education reform of the year. That package included a new school funding system that the folks who sued the state over its old funding system said put us on the path to constitutionality.

Within months of that passing, we got our 5th place rating -- the state's highest rank ever on the Ed Week report.

Fast forward to this year. 

The state has ditched that award-winning finance system and reforms. In its place, the current governor tried to replace it with one that was so panned in 2013 that the legislature essentially dropped it and adopted a funding scheme from 2005. The state's charter school system has become a national embarrassment. And now, Ohio's education system ranks below Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, Rhode Island, Maine, North Dakota, Delaware, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Washington, Alaska and Indiana. 

In 2010, that list only included Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and New York.

Now there are issues with Ed Week's rankings, as there are with any rankings. But the Quality Counts report is put out by a serious publication and impartial journalists who look at many measures of success and struggle. It's about as unbiased and quality an overall assessment of the country's education system as you could find.

What could account for the drop? Any one of a number of things have played a part, including a nationally ridiculed charter school system or the state's continued failure to adequately fund education. 

I also have to point this out to all the Evidence Based Model critics I've dealt with over the years. When Ohio passed the Evidence Based Model in 2009, only one other state had it -- Wyoming. But while Ohio dropped the EBM once Kasich took office, Wyoming did not. Today, Wyoming is the country's 8th rated system -- its improvement from 34th in 2010 representing the second-largest rating gain. Meanwhile, Ohio's performance drop is the country's 10th greatest.

Either way, Ohio's leaders have overseen a precipitous drop in Ohio's education system -- a drop that our kids simply can't afford. We simply must do better.

While much of Ohio's education policy air has been sucked up by the debate over charter schools, their efficacy and what to do about them, I hope legislators and leaders take note of our precipitous drop in these rankings. Many of Ohio's education policy struggles stem from our state's charter school disaster. But these rankings indicate that perhaps there's more going on and simply fixing charters is only a small part of what needs done here -- starting with constitutionally funding all our schools.

Ohio Falls from 5th to 18th in EdWeek Rankings

In 2010, Ohio, for once, could crow about its education achievements. The state had just passed a landmark education reform plan that won the Frank Newman Award from the Education Commission of the States, denoting the country's most "bold, courageous, non-partisan" education reform of the year. That package included a new school funding system that the folks who sued the state over its old funding system said put us on the path to constitutionality.

About this same time, Education Week put out its annual Quality Counts report and rated Ohio's education system as the country's 5th best overall -- the state's highest rank ever on that report.

Fast forward to this year. The state ditched that award-winning finance system and reforms. In its place, the current governor tried to replace it with one that was so panned in 2013 that the legislature essentially dropped it and adopted a funding scheme from 2005. The state's charter school system has become a national embarrassment. And then today, EdWeek released its Quality Counts report. And now, Ohio's education system ranks 18th in the country.

Now there are issues with EdWeek's rankings, as there are with any rankings. But the Quality Counts report is put out by a serious publication and impartial journalists who look at many measures of success and struggle. It's about as unbiased and quality an overall assessment of the country's education system as you could find.

In 2010, only Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and New York rated ahead of Ohio. Now it's those four plus Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Delaware. Only 13 states had a bigger dip in rank during that time period.

What could account for the drop? Any one of a number of things have played a part. But suffice to say, Ohio's leaders have overseen a precipitous drop in Ohio's education system -- a drop that our kids simply can't afford. As a parent of two school-aged children, I want action.

While much of Ohio's education policy air has been sucked up by the debate over charter schools, their efficacy and what to do about them, I hope legislators and leaders take note of our precipitous drop in these rankings. Many of Ohio's education policy struggles stem from our state's charter school disaster. But these rankings indicate that perhaps there's more going on.

Remember that 90 percent of our state's children do not attend charter schools. Let's not, I pray, forget their needs. For we do at our peril.