What do you think about putting your state government's largest (or second-largest) expenditure beyond the reach of the elected officials, and into the hands of the permanent bureaucracy? That's the proposal facing Ohio, says the Buckeye Institute. Calling school finance "the most important topic for politicians in Columbus," David Hansen president of the institute, offers a brief review of a proposal that, for lack of signatures, would have been on the ballot.

The idea isn't dead, he says, as Gov. Ted Strickland has some interest. So what would this do?

It would "would take away from voters and their elected representatives the power of the purse over public education. It would give control of state taxes and spending on schools to the State Board of Education , a group composed half of elected and half of appointed officials, and entirely beholden to the educational establishment."

While there would be no guaranteed benefit to student performance, there would be some guarantees, including a doubling of school spending every 7 years.

You may not like what your legislature does. But it has at least two redeeming qualities when it comes to budgeting. It is an elected body, meaning that it must respond to the public at large, not primarily to special interest groups such as unions. And equally important, it must consider the wide range of demands on the public purse, not simply the wish list of a particular lobby.