Students have been forced to attend school in modular classrooms for decades. We can’t accommodate students with disabilities. Some children learn in classrooms without proper walls or doors.

Amanda Fontana and Jennifer Schrock both serve on the board for New Philadelphia City Schools. They are writing as parents and members of the All in for Ohio Kids coalition.

Our families have lived in and around New Philadelphia for generations. We are raising our children here so they can experience the same tight-knit community we did.

We ran for school board to be champions for the district we love. Our children deserve to go to school in safe, modern buildings, to be taught by well-paid professionals and to pursue their passions through extracurricular activities.

Unfortunately, new Ohio Speaker of the House Matt Huffman doesn’t share the same goals for our children.

He has a long track record of lining the pockets of his corporate donors with tax breaks and sending our public dollars to well-off families for private school vouchers. He wants to do more of the same in the 2025-26 state budget.

Soon, Gov. Mike DeWine will introduce his budget proposal. We’re calling on him to protect Ohio’s public schools.

Ohio lawmakers continuously fail our schools and students

For more than 20 years, Ohio policymakers did not live up to the constitutional requirement to “secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” The funding system relied too heavily on local property taxes, which benefits wealthy districts with high property values and shortchanges working-class communities like ours.

Last year, we joined a group of educators, parents and community leaders called the All in for Ohio Kids Coalition. Four years ago, they pushed state lawmakers to include the Fair School Funding Plan in the 2022-23 budget. The bipartisan plan changed the funding formula to account for the different needs of Ohio’s small towns, suburbs, big cities and rural communities.

New Philadelphia is located in the middle of predominantly rural Tuscarawas County.

About 30% of our students qualify as economically disadvantaged. Our dedicated educators and administrators work miracles with inadequate materials and outdated buildings. New Philadelphia’s most modern school was built in the 1970s.

Students have been forced to attend school in modular classrooms for decades. We don’t have the facilities to accommodate students with disabilities. Some children learn in classrooms without proper walls or doors.

Opinion: Columbus schools should be improved not closed. We need to fight for solutions.

Although Quaker pride runs deep, voters rejected the district’s November bond request to upgrade our severely outdated school buildings. Most told us they simply could not afford to pay more in property taxes.

We were not alone.

More than half of Ohio’s school district levies failed last fall. For a district like ours that derives more than half our revenue from local property taxes, we live in a constant state of uncertainty. The Fair School Funding plan helps provide the stability we need.

Ohio public schools need funding

If lawmakers don’t include the Fair School Funding Plan in the next state budget, they will be responsible for taking about $900,000 away from New Philadelphia City Schools in 2027.

That could force our district to cut staff, slash extracurricular activities or reduce support services.

Letters: West Broad is more than a school building. It shouldn’t be closed.

A few weeks ago, Huffman called the Fair School Funding Plan “unsustainable.”

What seems more unsustainable is forcing cash-strapped districts to continuously go back to the ballot so he can give away our schools’ money to his rich friends and supporters. If he has his way, high-quality education will be out of reach for more Ohio children.

Many of his fellow Republican lawmakers stood up to Huffman and defended our public schools.

From increasing mental health services in our schools to expanding Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library across the state, DeWine has always prioritized Ohio’s children.

As he moves into the back end of his second term, we’re asking him to cement his legacy by protecting the Fair School Funding Plan.

Amanda Fontana and Jennifer Schrock both serve on the board for New Philadelphia City Schools. They do not speak for the school board, but are writing as parents and members of the All in for Ohio Kids coalition.