QPac On School Funding: Ohioans Say Guv And Lawmakers Shouldn't Be Deciders

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Some discordant trends emerged in the latest Quinnipiac poll when Ohioans were asked a series of questions about schools and school finance. Even though Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is popular, the data shows a wave of support for changing the constitution to strip Strickland and the legislature of traditional central authority to set spending levels for the state's public schools.

There is a proposed constitutional amendment headed to the ballot this fall supported by teacher unions and other education organizations, and it would create a panel to oversee and monitor the school financing process. Quinnipiac found 66% of Ohioans support forming such a commission, and 76% of public school parents agree.

"Currently, the governor and the state legislature decide school funding levels for Ohio public schools. Do you think a special commission that includes members who have worked in the schools should be appointed to make funding decisions for Ohio's public schools, or should the governor and the legislature continue to do it?"

Only 25% said the governor and legislature. Surprisingly, more Republicans, 29%, than Democrats, 25%, said get the General Assembly and Strickland out of the school finance business.

But the proposed amendment does not get rave reviews when some of the details are explained. When Ohioans were told that there are no specifics about how the state would increase spending for poorer schools, 50% said they were less likely to support it. And people were stalemated on the question of raising taxes -- 48% said they would support a school tax hike and 47% said no. Those numbers seem to be set in stone because they have barely changed since the last poll in February.

Quinnipiac measured the Ohio electorate's sense of where the state stands financially, and there was overwhelming agreement that the overall budget problems are serious or very serious. In other words, Ohioans know that things around the Statehouse are tight. But they don't want taxes raised -- 53% said cut services.

Bottomline: The handwriting is on the chalkboard but it is somewhat scrawled, the penmanship isn't perfect. Ohioans clearly have lost faith in the traditional Statehouse institutions responsible for providing a major share of funding for their public schools, which seems to be a historic shift away from the way things have been done since the 1800s. They are open to change. But if change comes with the possibility of higher taxes, forget about it. The amendment -- which many have written off -- appears to have some life yet.

But could it withstand a counter-campaign contending it is a tax raid?

Ohio Polled On Iraq Surge: Huge Number Opposed

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Today's Quinnipiac University poll is grabbing headlines because of the 2008 presidential horserace results. But its more important finding is that 60% of Ohioans oppose President George W. Bush's plan to send about 22,000 additional troops to Iraq. Even the president's base of white evangelical Christians in Ohio -- a key swing state -- is against the surge/escalation that Bush announced earlier this month.

The worst news for Bush's wartime leadership: He's lost SW Ohio, the geographic region filled with GOP loyalists that tipped the state to him in 2004.

The Hamden, Conn., university surveyed 1,305 Ohio residents between January 23 and January 28. The polling started the same day as the State of the Union address, where Bush made his second pitch this month for adding troops. Quinnipiac piggybacked public opinion inquiries about the war onto its presidential poll, which showed Sen. Hillary Clinton leading the Democrats and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani atop the GOP field. The 2008 election is 21 months away, and a lot, no doubt, will change between now and then.

Right now, though, Ohioans say the war is the biggest issue the nation faces. And they have firmly rejected the president's leadership. It is a stunning turnaround, because in 2004 he won the White House based on Ohio voters who believed he was a competent wartime leader.

Now, 65% of Ohioans disapprove of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq. Even in Southwest Ohio -- where three counties, Butler, Clermont and Warren gave him the statewide margin of victory -- 55% disapprove. A majority of Ohioans, 55%, say that going to war in Iraq was a mistake, or as the poll question was worded, "the wrong thing to do." In SW Ohio, 57% say the war is wrong. The surprise is that the number is higher than anywhere in the state and higher than in Northeast Ohio, where Bush was never popular to begin with.

The entire poll is HERE. Wade through the presidential results to look up the Iraq War questions.