DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has two weeks to decide if Dayton schools will receive a windfall of up to $16 million.

But the Ohio Board of Education unanimously wants Dann's office to keep fighting a lawsuit by Cincinnati Public Schools all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Ohio law gives Dann — not the state board — final say as to whether an appeal should be filed. If he does not appeal, urban districts could see money come quickly. But an appeal would likely delay resolution of the case by at least a year.

"We continue to represent the board of education," said Dann's spokeswoman, Jennifer Brindisi. "Further appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court is still under consideration."

The dispute is over the methods by which the Ohio Department of Education counted charter school enrollment. When students choose charters, funding is deducted from their school districts and transferred to the schools.

Ohio law says district enrollment is determined by annual counts now done twice a year. But the education department tracks charter enrollment every month.

Urban districts argued the monthly charter counts contained errors, that their annual counts were more accurate and the state was required by law to use them. They said the state overcharged them by more than $50 million by not using the annual counts.

When the state stuck with its count method, Cincinnati schools sued and won in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Last month, an appeals court affirmed that decision.

State Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, a former Dayton school board member, said it's time for the state to give up the fight.

"They've got two strikes. Why go for a third?" he said. "They will be out, and they're wasting taxpayer money by fighting this. Now the districts suffer and the kids suffer."

But state board member Susan Haverkos of West Chester believes the state's method was more accurate and isn't sure the state has got a fair shake.

"Those judges, it's in their own backyard," she said. "If we had another court look at it without that local flavor in there we would probably get a different decision."

Carl Wick, a board member from Centerville, also voted to appeal. He believes the state has a good case but said there also is a practical matter to consider — $50 million is a lot for the department, which just made $100 million in cuts.

Paying that much "would have major repercussions across the state," he said.

"I am really sympathetic," he said. "In my own mind I debated really strongly what my vote should be. But it's the state's money and we're responsible for that money. I know how hard it is for them but we felt this would be the best thing — to check one more time and see if the Supreme Court thinks it's fair and justified."

Contact this reporter at (937)

225-2485 or selliott@DaytonDaily

News.com.

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