The whole concept of public schools is a progressive idea. To pay for our schools, we need a progressive tax system.
The progressive notion that government can compel the payment of taxes to educate other people’s children was a radical idea and at one time was strongly opposed. Another progressive and radical idea was the belief that in order to have a fair tax system that could generate the needed revenue, government should have the power to tax income, and at varying rates. This idea would have been opposed by the founders, but, a progressive tax system was enshrined in our Constitution as the 16th amendment in 1913. It was initiated when our Ohio Republican President, Howard Taft, was in office. He urged congress to supply the needed 2/3rd vote.
In 2004, Ohio had a progressive state income tax system with seven brackets. The top bracket taxed income in excess of $200,000 at 7.5%. Starting in 2005, the Republican Assembly, over the years, gradually flattened this system and, since January 2026, Ohio has had a flat 2.75% income tax system. Now, 49% of the state revenue is from sales taxes and fees. Trashing the progressive income tax system and greatly increasing sales tax has made the system every more regressive — the lower a person’s income, the greater is the percentage of the income that goes to taxes.
In 2005, the bottom quintile and the top quintile of income paid about the same percentage of their incomes in taxes. By 2023 the progressive system had been largely flattened and citizens in the bottom quintile were paying about twice as much of their income as was the top quintile: 12.7% vs. 6.3%.
In Ohio, the state government provides about 34% of the needed funding for public schools. This is much less than most states provide. Ohio is about 40 out of the 50 states. The state support was 44.8% in 2002. The state failed to keep up with the increased need for addiional school funding and there was more and more pressure on school boards to beg their communities to fund the local schools by raising school property taxes.
About $13.2 billion is raised each year by property taxes for the purpose of school operation; this doesn’t include building construction. The plan, I am showing here, is to implement a progressive income tax system that will raise $5.2 billion each year and to make changes in the business tax system to raise $1 billion. The idea is to use this $6.2 billion to reduce school property taxes by about one-half of what they are now.
If the state Ohio would provide an additional $6.2 billion to public schools, that would make the state support at 60%. This would move Ohio from 34%, position 40, to 60%, position 13. See below.
Here is one possible chart showing a progressive system to calculate a tax surcharge. This would be an additional tax, on top of the 2.75% flat rate, just for school property tax relief. For most citizens, the increase in income tax would be more than compensated by a decrease in their property taxes.
