Symbolic State Politics Education Funding in Ohio 1970-1980

This case study focuses upon the primary/secondary education funding process in Ohio to uncover the interaction patterns between state legislators, state Department of Education administrators and education group lobbyists. Through a series of interviews with twenty-four participants in Ohio’s education funding system the impact of schisms in the legislative leadership, the sporadic intervention of the governor, and elite cultivation and maintenance of Ohio’s political culture are assessed. The 1970s, for Ohio and many other states, were years of funding reform pressures, teacher unionization, and demands to ease property tax burdens. All these factors converge to demonstrate that while many differences exist between state and nation, there are also some remarkable similarities.