The 19-member board is poised to adopt the plan at its December meeting before recommending it to the governor and legislative leaders.

The plan would establish a per-student base cost of providing an education, with additional money to meet the needs of poor youngsters, those with special needs, gifted students and those with limited English proficiency. It also calls for expanding all-day kindergarten statewide and providing special-education services for preschoolers.

Had the proposal been in place last school year, it would have boosted state aid to primary and secondary schools by nearly $1 billion.

Board leaders say the plan would reduce reliance on local tax revenue and prevent Ohio's 614 school districts from having to go to the ballot so frequently, although the board did not say where the money would come from.

"We have some ideas that we think should be in a funding system, and we hope they will take those ideas and that we may see them in a budget two years from now," said Virgil E. Brown Jr., chairman of the board's funding subcommittee.

The board's proposal comes as Strickland kicks off his second round of invitation-only education forums, this time focusing on school funding. The first is scheduled Thursday in Columbus. The previous forums dealt only with reforms.

Strickland promises to unveil in early 2009 his proposal for reforming what goes on in the classroom and how schools are financed, a pledge he made on the campaign trail in 2006.

Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said the governor had no comment on the school-board plan because he hadn't analyzed it.

The governor also isn't saying whether he expects to include his school-reform proposal in his state budget, which will be introduced early next year, or as a separate legislative initiative.

Strickland told educators last week that he hopes the legislature will adopt his plan but, if not, he will put it on the ballot.

The next two-year budget, which starts July 1, is expected to be extremely tight, with revenue declining as the economy sputters.

Strickland already has made two rounds of cuts and other adjustments to the current budget this year totaling $1.3 billion. He also has rejected any talk of a tax increase as counterproductive in this economic climate.

Ohio's education system "is not something that can be changed overnight," he cautioned at the Ohio School Boards Association's annual conference in Columbus.

Still, the governor said, improving Ohio's education system is critical to the state's economic recovery.

The state board analyzed spending in 65 high-performing school districts to come up with a per-student aid amount of $5,803 to cover teacher salaries, maintain an average classroom size of 23 students and provide personnel support.

The state also would provide $56.33 per student for tutoring and other intervention services, professional development and data management.

Ohio currently provides $5,565 in base aid and $49.43 in added assistance.

The board's proposal also calls for additional per-student aid for services to youths who enter school with a disability, are economically disadvantaged, have limited English or are gifted.

"It's an attempt to really define what is needed considering the circumstances of the student, which should play very well to the governor's point of view because he believes that education should be tailored to meet the individual needs of every student," said board President Jennifer L. Sheets.

Overall, the board's plan would have cost $7.4 billion last school year compared with the $6.5 billion spent by the state under the current formula.

Some of the largest spending increases would be for basic per-student aid ($511 million), poor students ($195 million) and gifted services ($120 million).

The board proposes expanding poverty-based assistance to all students who qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program -- about 620,000 students. Currently, such aid goes only for those who qualify for welfare, about 89,000 children.

The report does not propose any changes to Ohio's tax structure but touches on the subject, recommending the removal of the cap on total revenue that can be generated through local taxes and consideration of a "circuit-breaker feature," which would limit an individual's tax liability to a certain percentage of his or her income. The latter is an attempt to address concerns about taxpayers on fixed incomes.

Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette contributed to this story.

ccandisky@dispatch.com