By Rev. Donald L. Perryman, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. – African proverb
The Toledo Public Schools (TPS) are at a critical tipping point.
The district recently laid off 32 employees after announcing that 115 positions would need to be cut and filing a State-Required Pre-Caution Recovery Plan forecasting $68 million in state and federal funding reductions starting in fiscal year 2026.
Meanwhile, students continue to leave for charter and parochial schools, taking vital funding ($6,800-$8,500/student plus transportation costs) with them, while neighborhoods and the broader community feel the shockwaves of the mass exodus.
The $1.2 billion transferred in 2025 from Ohio public schools to private vouchers are not just numbers on a ledger. TPS continuously loses some of its best and brightest – both academically and athletically—as the parochial and charter schools often cherry-pick, returning those who have disciplinary or academic struggles.
Those students carry their own needs and challenges, stretching TPS’ already limited, declining resources and creating ripple effects that impact teachers, peers, and neighborhoods. There was a time in our history when we were more united; such a situation would have demanded our attention.
Yet, our post-civil rights successes have created division and indifference where there was once unity, and now too many of us remain unconcerned. But take heed: the political winds have shifted, suggesting we may be forced to unite again.
The stakes are enormous. Research from Stanford University shows that when schools close or weaken, neighborhoods suffer: “property values drop, crime rises, businesses struggle, and social cohesion disintegrates.”
In historically underserved communities, the study argues, these effects compound existing inequities, affecting families and students long after a school’s doors close.”
Families are also responding. National and local trends show that Black parents are increasingly choosing alternatives such as home schooling, online programs and microschools to find safe, nurturing and culturally relevant learning environments for their children. These parents are invaluable allies for public schools, and their disengagement makes the district’s challenges even harder to address.
Our schools, neighborhoods and community thrive when we show up and ask questions.
That is why it is important to attend the TPS community meetings planned for February and March, beginning this week. Meetings matter, and it is also important to attend other public TPS meetings, including the finance, oversight, and curriculum committees. They are decision-making arenas open to the public where the future of our children and neighborhoods is at stake.
Be sure to ask— or have answered—these critical questions at TPS public meetings:
- How will TPS stabilize enrollment while preserving neighborhood schools?
- What is the full impact of vouchers, school choice, and open enrollment on funding?
- How many students are leaving, and where are they going (trend analysis)?
- Why were the five-year revenue projections so inaccurate?
- Why did the district under-ask on the recent levy and not ask for enough to pay its bills? Did the Scott Park project play a role?
- How many total students are using vouchers, attend parochial or charter schools?
- Which programs–literacy, special education, mental health, arts—are being protected, and why?
- How will progress and accountability be measured in the coming year?
- How is TPS supporting teacher and staff retention amid layoffs and cuts?
- How are TPS leaders rebuilding trust with families who feel overlooked or alienated?
Now is the moment to embrace our children and respond to the transfer of public resources to private systems and the mass exodus of students, so that our schools and community stay strong, before the consequences of inaction arrive.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, PhD, at drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org