Ted Strickland

Protecting education and balancing the budget

Good news from the Statehouse this afternoon: Governor Strickland and legislative leaders have reached a bipartisan agreement that will balance Ohio's budget and protect educational reforms and funding for Ohio's schools. Ted's full statement is below the fold.

Governor Strickland's statement:

Across the country, some states have chosen to slash education budgets in an attempt to make it through the recession.  Here in Ohio, investing in education is the cornerstone of our plan to rebuild Ohio’s economy from the ground up.  We have again overcome political differences to achieve a bipartisan agreement to balance the budget and protect our schools from devastating cuts.

This compromise will avoid thousands of teacher layoffs, school building closures and the elimination of athletic programs in our schools.  And we can now refocus our efforts on competing for federal Race to the Top resources that, along with our education reform plan, will improve our students’ ability to compete with students anywhere in the world.

Nearly three months ago, a state Supreme Court decision opened an $851 million hole in education funding.  We were faced with three options to fill the budget hole.  One option was to raise taxes.  A second option was to cut $851 million budgeted for Ohio schools.  A third option was to freeze state income tax rates at the 2008 level, postponing the final 4.2 percent reduction while leaving in place the rate cuts made to date.

I deeply appreciate the business and education communities, as well as libraries and human service organizations, for their vocal support of the common sense solution to temporarily postpone the last phase of income tax reductions.  Ohio families and businesses will continue to receive a $1.8 billion tax cut this fiscal year because of the broad-based tax reforms we shepherded through the most difficult economic environment in 80 years.

This compromise also advances several important initiatives.  After we brought construction reform to the forefront, it will be undertaken in a demonstration capacity at three University System of Ohio institutions.  We are also meeting our commitment to ensure needed mental health services continue to support Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens.

With bipartisan cooperation, we are making steady progress toward a new, more competitive Ohio.

You can read the full details of the agreement here.