Denison University students will host a community forum to discuss Ohio school funding and related issues at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (April 17) at the Newark Public Library.

The community is invited to hear student perspectives and to engage in conversation on this critical public policy issue. The students who will present their views at the meeting are members of first-year studies classes on "Financing Public Schools."

The classes are taught by Professor Dick Lucier of the Denison economics department, Associate Professor Lyn Robertson, chair of the University's education department, and Associate Professor Karen Graves, also of the DU education department.

The Ohio Supreme Court has twice declared Ohio's system for financing public schools unconstitutional. The court's decisions an the characteristics of the state's financing system - which led the court to find it unconstitutional - are the subject matter of the course. Issues raised in Ohio mirror the conditions found in other states: Inadequate and unsafe buildings; large disparities in per-pupil spending among the school districts; insufficient state aid; and over-reliance on local property wealth for local school revenues.

Lucier's recently published book on "The DeRolph Case: Ohio's Struggle for a Constitutional School Finance System" is a center piece text for the Denison class, which has 36 students in two sections.

The Denison students have studied conditions in several area school districts:Heath, Johnstown-Monroe, Lakewood, Newark, and New Albany. They have interviewed district administrators and engaged in conversations with teachers, in route to preparing proposals to address inequities in the current system. Community members may join in discussion of a particular proposal regarding a change in the funding system, and offer their perspectives regarding accountability issues and public schools at the forum.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575