Voice your opinion with our online form. But few decisions on Nov. 7 have more personal and immediate impact than school taxes. These directly affect local schools, children, pocketbooks and even community property values. In Ohio, property taxes are still the mainstay of financing public schools, allowing local voters to hold schools accountable for spending and results. Talawanda Problems and priorities vary widely.
Schools have little control over some things that affect student performance.
But voters should ask tough questions before approving additional spending. Finances, test scores and tax numbers are confusing and tricky to compare. That's why we provide these levy report cards. We review 25 performance measures, Ohio's new school report cards, other tax and spending data and a questionnaire answered for us by district officials. We ask questions on behalf of ordinary parents and taxpayers, and then grade the levies to help voters on election day.