Ohio Department of Education Finance

Introduction

The funding of K-12 public schools in Ohio is a joint effort between the state and local school districts.  In FY 2012 of the over $6.2 billion in state aid provided to school districts, excluding property tax loss reimbursement and reimbursement for Public Utility Deregulation and Tangible Personal Property Phase-out, over 99 percent was distributed through the Ohio School Foundation program to 614 city, exempted village and local school districts, 49 joint vocational schools, 300+ community schools and one Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) school.  Over $774 million was funneled through the foundation program to charter schools (called "community schools" in Ohio) by deduction from the funding of regular school districts.  Also, in a similar manner over $75 million was transferred to private schools under the EdChoice program for students who chose to attend private schools through the voucher program.