KnowledgeWorks Foundation - 2001-2002 Poll

In the past five years, Ohio's legislature has increased funding for K-12 public schools-yet 53.3% think funding stayed the same or decreased. People who are aware of the increases in funding are less likely to believe that increased spending will directly result in improvements; people who think funding decreased or stayed the same are significantly more likely to believe that increased spending will result in improvements. Thus, knowledge matters; those who are aware of recent increases may recognize that funding is not a singular solution. As more and more people understand the facts about funding, there will likely be greater pressure to demonstrate results for the investment and a need to showcase innovative approaches to improvements in education.

According to the Ohio Department of Education's 2001 State Report Card, Ohio increased funding to school districts by over $1 billion in three years, with average annual spending per pupil increasing steadily since 1996. State spending on primary and secondary education totaled $5.1 billion in fiscal year 1997 and $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2001, an increase of 40% over the five-year period. Spending for education as a percentage of the state budget has also increased, from 35.0% in fiscal year 1997 to 37.5% in fiscal year 2001.

Key Findings
Overall, Ohioans believe that grades K-12 should be Ohio's top funding priority. Eighty-four percent believe that between early childhood, K-12, and higher education, K-12 should be the top priority for government funding. However, Ohioans are divided as to whether higher education budgets should be reduced to pay for K-12 education-43.8% agreed that higher education budgets should be reduced; 47% disagreed.

Respondents generally believe that education funding for K-12 public schools in Ohio should be increased; 25% believe funding should be increased "greatly" and 30% believe funding should be increased "somewhat." However, there was not strong support for additional tax increases unless these increases would be combined with additional budget cuts, despite the fact that most state agencies' budgets have already been cut an additional 6%.

School budgets were also a source of some skepticism in the public view. Nearly one-third (31%) of survey respondents were not confident that local schools are doing everything they can to manage budgets efficiently, and another 7% responded, "don't know." Similarly, 35% of respondents were not confident public state universities are doing everything they can to manage budgets efficiently, and another 18% responded, "don't know."

Significantly, there was a widespread lack of knowledge of current efforts to fund education. Only 36% of respondents know that Ohio's education funding has been increased in the past five years. Furthermore, only 45% of respondents know that state government funds matched with local funds could result in nearly $23 billion for renovating or building new school facilities in Ohio. The lack of knowledge about actual spending changes has many subtle but important associations. For example, those who believe funding has recently decreased were more likely to believe that increased spending will result in improvements (71.9%) compared with those who realize funding has actually increased (44.8%).

In the past five years, do you believe that Ohio's legislature has increased, decreased, or kept education spending at about the same level?
Do you believe that increased spending on education will directly result in improvements?
		Increased spending	Kept spending about the same	Decreased spending	Total
	Yes	44.8%	57.2%	71.9%	53.3%
	No	52.2%	36.2%	21.9%	41.8%
	Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Although those who falsely believe Ohio's spending on education decreased over the past five years are demographically similar to those who are aware of spending increases, these two groups have different opinions about many education issues. For example, respondents who believe education funding has recently decreased also:

Although there seems to be an association between awareness of funding increases and general perceptions of Ohio's schools, what is actually driving these perceptions is still unclear. However, those who are more familiar with funding increases tend to be more favorable in their views of the schools. In addition, these individuals seem to be less confident that funding is a singular solution to current problems in education in Ohio.