In his 1994 court ruling, Judge Linton Lewis Jr. of Perry County Common
Pleas Court set out the elements of what a constitutionally acceptable system
of school funding must do:

* Recognize that the state has ultimate responsibility for the establishment, organization and maintenance of the public school system. * Ensure that the state provide for a thorough and efficient public schoolsystem. Such a system would include facilities in good repair and supplies,materials and funds necessary to maintain these facilities in a safe manner. * Provide to all school children, including handicapped children, freeschools on an equal basis, which includes equitable and adequate educationalopportunities, materials, equipment and supplies. Adequate educationalopportunities shall consist of the following:

Lewis

1. Sufficient oral and written communication skills to function socially
and economically in Ohio and globally.
2. Sufficient mathematic and scientific skills to function as a
contributing citizen to the economy of Ohio and globally.
3. Sufficient knowledge of economic, social and political systems,
generally, and of the history, policies and social structure of Ohio and the
nation (to) enable the student to make informed decisions.
4. Sufficient understanding of governmental processes and of basic civic
institutions to enable the student to understand and contribute to the issues
that affect his or her community, state and nation.
5. Sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge of principles of health and
mental hygiene to enable the student to monitor and contribute to his or her
own physical and mental well-being.
6. Sufficient understanding of the arts to enable each student to
appreciate his or her cultural heritage and the cultural heritages of others.
7. Sufficient training, or preparation for advanced training, in academic
or vocational skills, and sufficient guidance, to enable each child to choose
and pursue life intelligently.
8. Sufficient levels of academic or vocational skills to enable public
school students to compete favorably with their counterparts in Ohio, in
surrounding states, across the nation, and throughout the world, in academics
or in the job market.
9. Sufficient support and guidance so that every student feels a sense of
self-worth and ability to achieve, and so that every student is encouraged to
live up to his or her full potential.
10. Sufficient facilities, equipment, supplies and instruction to enable
both female and male students to compete equally within their own schools as
well as schools across the state and worldwide in academic and
extracurricular activities.
11. Sufficient monitoring by the General Assembly to assure that this
state's common schools are being operated without there being mismanagement,
waste or misuse of funds.
12. Sufficient facilities for each school district across the state that
are adequate for instruction, safe, sanitary and conducive to providing a
proper education as outlined by the above-related criteria.

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DAYTON DAILY NEWS
Copyright (c) 1997, Dayton Newspapers Inc.

Published: Wednesday, March 26, 1997