Schools in several Ohio counties are closing or going back to remote learning at the start of the school year.

The reason?

Extreme heat.

Throughout the state, school buildings are so old or in such disrepair that they do not have working air conditioning. Columbus City Schools has 20 buildings in that category. Students at those schools are learning remotely right now.

In July, Steve Dyer, government relations director at the Ohio Education Association, talked to the Associated Press about Ohio’s new Fair School Funding Plan.

“It’s much more of a ‘What do kids need, and let’s pay for it’ thing, rather than, ‘Here’s how much money we’re willing to spend, let’s divide it by the number of kids and see what we come up with,'” he said.

“It’s a totally different way of looking at school funding.”

It has been abundantly clear for years our kids need schools with reliable air conditioning. Good ventilation and air circulation also help stem the spread of COVID-19 and other contagions.

It has been 30 years since a lawsuit known as DeRolph vs. State of Ohio alleged that the state failed to provide an “efficient education” because of its heavy reliance on property taxes for school funding. The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional.

Perhaps, given the amount of federal money flooding into counties and school districts, this is the year officials solve this very real public health and education challenge once and for all.