Gov. Ted Strickland said yesterday morning that he still holds out hope that his school-funding plan can emerge more or less intact from the legislature.

Later that morning, researcher Allan Odden told senators that the House-passed education plan is "85 to 90 percent faithful" to the "evidence-based" funding model he helped develop using strategies that he says produced improvements in a number of states.

Then, not long after Odden finished his testimony, Sen. John A. Carey Jr., R-Wellston, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, still said significant changes to the plan are likely.

Strickland is waging a campaign in support of his "evidence-based" education plan, including public appearances, endorsements from education groups and video messages posted on YouTube and his education Web site.

In response to opposition from some Republican senators now debating the plan as part of the state budget, Strickland said, "I know there are things that are said publicly by people, but I think there is still opportunity for a coming together for the sake of our kids, and I continue to hope that can happen."

The governor noted that more than a dozen education groups and others have endorsed his plan, including the State Board of Education this week. "It has huge, huge support," he said.

But those education groups say privately that they are willing to live with the plan's meager funding increases over the next two years only because the plan promises reforms and billions of dollars in additional funding from 2012 to 2019, as the 10-year phase-in is completed.

Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, said this week that the 10-year phase-in "scares me to death." He and other Republicans argue the state cannot afford it, and Carey said he expects only a two-year plan from the Senate.

Carey also expects to make the plan look more like the funding system in place today, where money is paid on a per-student basis -- though he admits the funding amount over the next two years likely won't change much from the House-passed plan.

"In their model, you're paying for buildings and the money doesn't follow the student," he said. "It seems to me the model focuses on employing more people and focuses on what the associations want as far as adding employees and increased power. We want to concentrate on the money following the student, which gives parents more power."

The governor has vowed to put his plan on the ballot if the legislature doesn't pass it. Asked about that pledge yesterday, Strickland said, "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But I still remain hopeful that we will get an education plan that is right for Ohio."

jsiegel@dispatch.com

mniquette@dispatch.com