Several House Democrats Requesting Immediate Release of Study on Education Funding for Disadvantaged Students

COLUMBUS — State Reps. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland), and Phillip Robinson (D-Solon) today sent a letter to the Department of Education and Workforce Development requesting the immediate release of a long-overdue study concerning Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA). Despite repeated requests for its release, this study, which was funded through the 135th General Assembly’s operating budget nearly two years ago, remains withheld from the public and state legislators.

“We have a constitutional obligation to adequately fund our public schools, yet it is impossible for us to do so if we don’t know the actual cost to educate a child,” said Rep. Sweeney. “National studies already indicate that Ohio is underfunding our economically disadvantaged student population by billions of dollars every year. We need these studies now, before the final version of the budget passes, so we can finally begin to better address these students’ educational needs."

"This is not a 'gotcha' situation with the administration, but the legislature has failed our students and families for too long, and it has to stop,” said Rep. Isaacsohn. “Our job is to try and make sure that our schools have the resources they need to be successful, and to do that we need the information that we, as legislators, commissioned by law."

"We know it takes more resources to educate students from low-income backgrounds, but we need the actual data before we can make the most informed funding decisions,” said Rep. Robinson. “By withholding the report, DEW is risking perpetuating a cycle of underfunding our schools that serve our highest need students."

The letter highlights the urgency of acquiring the results of such a study because of the importance of the data to inform the state’s plan for school funding through the biennial operating budget, which is set to pass before the end of June 2025. This study was commissioned to provide critical insight into the cost of funding education for economically disadvantaged students in Ohio. Without the study, the state is arbitrarily and unnecessarily picking a number at random to fund these students’ education, which only hurts those students.