Former state Rep. John Patterson, who helped develop a constitutional funding formula for public schools, known as the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan, will be a featured speaker on a virtual panel discussion on Wednesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. hosted by the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
Here is a link to sign up for the panel entitled “Fair Funding Vs. Vouchers: Understanding the K-12 Funding Tug of War.”
Susan Kaeser, LWVO Issue Specialist and longtime Advocate for Quality Public Education, will moderate the discussion.
Patterson will be joined on the panel by Nneka Slade Jackson, president of the Richmond Heights Board of Education, and Dennis Willard, communications director for Vouchers Hurt Ohio.
Patterson will talk about the roots of the Cupp-Patterson plan, recent success and the importance of the final step: full funding.
The plan has been in the news because Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman has said the constitutional funding formula is not “sustainable,” and is a “fantasy.”
At the same time, Huffman is the main driving force behind passing a universal private school voucher program in Ohio that is costing taxpayers and public schools $1 billion a year.
Vouchers Hurt Ohio is suing the state, challenging the constitutionality of the private school voucher program known as EdChoice.
Willard will talk about the lawsuit on the panel, and Slade Jackson will discuss how private school vouchers are resegregating public schools.
There is still time to sign up for the virtual panel discussion here.