The following is a letter submitted by Joni O’Leary, secretary of the Student Advisory Council of St. Joseph School in Galion. The letter was published as received.
GALION — Last week the Ohio General Assembly turned their back on the children of 1,227 underperforming schools in Ohio. Since the inception of the EdChoice program in 2005, the program has helped lift thousands of students out of failing schools and put them on the path to a brighter future. Starting relatively small with approximately 2,500 students in the 2006-2007, school year the program has now grown to help 29,000 students as of 2020. It’s a simple common-sense approach to addressing one of the most important issues facing Ohio’s schools, children and their families. If the General Assembly gets its way the program will be eliminated.
So why now after fifteen years of success does the General Assembly want to eliminate the program?
Politics. Last year, the Ohio Department of Education released a widely expanded list of designated EdChoice public schools. Students at these underperforming schools are eligible for an Ohio EdChoice Scholarship. EdChoice designated schools in Crawford County include the following public schools: Bucyrus Elementary, Hannah Crawford Elementary (preK-2), Galion Intermediate Elementary, Wynford Elementary. The dramatic increase in eligibility created a major political push back from the public schools to stop the expansion. Now- the General Assembly has caved to pressure from the public schools to eliminate the performance-based approach to EdChoice scholarships. Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder proclaimed, “performance-based vouchers are over with.”
After telling communities all over Ohio their schools are underperforming, we are going to take accountability off the table for many. A school’s performance should most definitely be measured, but a look into metrics used was probably necessary before shaming 1,200 public schools. Now we have families in Ohio with students at “underperforming” schools that have planned on transferring to a private school, on a scholarship, finding out they may be unable. The unfortunate action by the General Assembly has simultaneously eliminated the accountability of failing schools and the opportunity that EdChoice provided the students attending those schools.
Ohio families are stuck waiting.
Unable to reach an agreement on how to limit EdChoice scholarships, the House and Senate have passed a bill delaying the application window for 60 days… The two legislative bodies put off the application window with the intention of modifying the program. The current submitted House plan has future vouchers based on family income. The proposed bill does increase the income slightly for EdChoice Expansion; however, it significantly limits the total number of school choice scholarships in the future. Policymakers should introduce a progressive sliding scale when awarding scholarships to families at different income levels. A sliding scale would allow all Ohio families the freedom to choose the education that best fits a child’s needs. Instead of working on a reasonable solution in a timely fashion, legislation that impacts hundreds of Ohio’s public and private schools has been delayed.
Now there is a legal battle.
Advocates of vouchers are suing the state, asking the Supreme Court to toss out the House-Senate plan. School choice supporters are hoping to throw-out the House-Senate plan and immediately begin accepting, processing, and awarding EdChoice Scholarships, as was already agreed on.
Parents are the primary educators of their children and, therefore, parental choice is a fundamental right. Parents should be provided and supported in educational options. A quality education should be available to everyone and not only to those who can afford to pay hefty school property taxes or private school tuition. There is clearly a demand for educational choice in Ohio with parents lining up to take advantage of EdChoice scholarships.
While legislature debates which pot the money comes from, it must not be overlooked that there is a cry for social justice from families in regards to education. We support legislation that supports a parents’ right to choose an education that fits their children’s needs, and the state’s assistance with funding that educational choice.
What can be done to stop the elimination of such an important and successful program? Fortunately, the State Senate still needs to vote on the amended bill and the Governor will need to sign it into law. Please contact your State Senator Dave Burke and Governor Mike DeWine to let them know you stand up for Ohio’s children and support school choice in Ohio.
Governor Mike Dewine’s Office: (614)644-4357
https://governor.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/governor/contact
Senator Dave Burke’s Office: (614)466-8049