Greetings,

Gov. Ted Strickland recently proposed to delay the last of five 4.2 percent income tax cuts to fill an $851 million hole in the state’s education budget for FY10-11. He said that the step is necessary because the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in September - that the public had to vote on VLT's in Novermber 2010-  that his proposal to place video lottery terminals at Ohio’s seven racetracks is subject to a vote of the people, made it “a practical impossibility to utilize video lottery revenue in the current budget and reopened an $851 million hole, placing our schools at risk of funding cuts and our budget at risk of imbalance.”

The Ohio Department of Education created two scenarios about what would happen if cuts had to be made. First, losing both the VLT and State Fiscal Stabilization Funds SFSF funding results in a shortfall of $2.3 billion. Based on the simulations released earlier this month, a 10.31% reduction in districts’ FY 2010 payments and 15.74% in FY 2011 payments would be necessary. In the scenario, reductions have been applied at these percentages across the board. We have only provided estimates for traditional districts, but reductions at the same levels for community schools are assumed. Another scenario would force both years SFSF to be used in FY10 and force a 10 percent cut in FY 11 with a short fall of $197.3 million in the Board of Regents budget.      Postoning the fifth year of the tax cut will generate $844 million dollars and help maintain quality education for K-12 and higher education.  Left unadressed teachers, athletics, arts, and music programs will be cut from the school district budget.

Subject:

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I urge you to support Governor Strickland in postponing tax rate reductions in order to keep Ohio's education system strong for our future.

Data shows the tax rollbacks benefit only the top 20 percent wage earners in Ohio. Ohio?s education system benefits every single person in this state by providing a strong foundation for economic growth and job creation which will build a vibrant future in our state. Education is the basis for recovering from recent tough economic times.

Education will play a key role in our state's economic recovery. Postponing the tax rate reduction will offset the budget hole caused by legal challenges to generating revenue from VLTs. This action will significantly address the shortfall that now faces the education budget. I ask you to stand with the Governor and the citizens of Ohio to protect our education from budget cuts.

House Bill 1 invests in our children, modernizes our schools and expands the curriculum to include those 21st-century skills that employers demand. And, the budget establishes evidence-based requirements for ensuring that Ohio invests our money in reforms that work.

Failure to enact the Governor's plan could result in Ohio being ineligible for millions of federal dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The lack of such federal funding will impact K-12 and higher education. If cuts are made in response to the absence of this revenue, school districts could be forced to function with 11 percent to 26 percent less in state funds as well. Funding reductions of this magnitude would result in dramatic cuts in the number of qualified teachers and services needed to ensure that Ohio's children have the education needed to meet state and federal education standards. Athletic, music and arts programs could be in jeopardy of widespread elimination.

The quality of our education system defines the opportunities that are available to Ohio students and families now and in our future.

I urge you to support higher quality K-12 education by supporting the Governor's funding proposal.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]