Kasich FINALLY introduces his new school funding model

After months of questions about what, exactly, Governor-elect John Kasich’s plans for education would be, and what he’d replace the evidence-based model that Governor Strickland introduced in 2009 with, we finally got our answer in today’s Columbus Dispatch.

Introducing Governor Kasich “No Funding/Keep the Poor Districts Poor” funding model:

Asked if some district officials preparing financial forecasts and deciding whether to put levies on the ballot were correct to assume a 15 to 20 percent cut in state aid, [Income GOP President Tom] Niehaus said that’s what he would plan for if he were in their shoes.

In a separate Dispatch story, Republican consultant Michael Dawson, who sits on a bipartisan commission created to suggest ideas on how to change the evidence-based model for the better, explains the GOP’s objections to Strickland’s evidence-based school funding model succinctly:

Michael Dawson, a Republican consultant and council member, says the evidence-based model goes too far in trying to push money to poorer districts.

Wow.  I really don’t know what to say.