Cincinnati Public Schools' teachers and other officials want the state to provide more money for extra services the state required this year to improve student achievement.

        In Ohio Senate Bill 1, the state said school districts must offer “intervention” services, such as after-school tutoring, summer school and smaller class size, for children who fail one or more proficiency tests.

        Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Sue Taylor, who said she supports the new requirements, held a press conference Tuesday to challenge the state to help pay for those services.

        “We must insist that intervention services be funded so that Cincinnati's urban students do not continue to be "left behind' in the state of Ohio budget,” Ms. Taylor said.

        She also cited the need to reduce the achievement gap between white and minority students.

        Ms. Taylor, speaking alongside Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, other union members and educators, and two CPS board of education members, said the district will have trouble providing those services, which she called “unfunded mandates.”

        She said the situation is especially dire for CPS, whose percentage of state funding actually decreases in Ohio's 2002-03 budget. While the state's budget billrequired a system of “parity” aid for poorer districts, CPS lost out because the district is considered too wealthy based on property valuation and the district's average income.

        The district will receive “alternative parity aid” amounting to $1.3 million this fiscal year and $2.6 million next fiscal year, according to state officials, but that's not enough to pay for the state's new requirements, Ms. Taylor said.

        Paul Marshall, director of budget and governmental relations for the Ohio Department of Education, said this state budget includes about $150 million for remediation and intervention services for Ohio's school districts in addition to about $100 million in parity and alternative parity aid, which can be used toward the new intervention requirements.

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