Tag Archives: vouchers

Refreshing to hear bipartisan support from lawmakers

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At the American Federation for Children’s Policy Summit in Washington D.C., a pair of Ohio lawmakers participated in a panel discussion, The Fight for Educational Choice in State Capitols. Ohio Representatives Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) and Anne Gonzales (R- Gahanna) both shared stories about why they became advocates for school choice and also discussed what is currently happening in Ohio to ensure that more parents have the opportunity to choose the school that is the best fit for their child.

Representative Patmon

Representative Patmon at first was a staunch opponent of school choice. He became a proponent, however, after witnessing the decline of the Cleveland Municipal School District in the early 90’s as a member of Cleveland City Council. As a member of city council, he worked with the Ohio legislature to give the mayor’s office control of the school district and to create the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program.

Since joining the Ohio General Assembly in 2011, Representative Patmon has helped to pass legislation to eliminate the Cleveland Scholarship’s parent co-pay, an original part of the program, and is currently a joint-sponsor of legislation that would create a Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

Representative Gonzales

Representative Gonzales became a school choice supporter after her son endured bullying at school. She grew fed up with her well-performing public school when the school administrators failed to address the bullying and decided to withdraw her son from the school because of it. She then chose to enroll him in a private school.

Representative Gonzales said she was lucky that her family could make the decision on their own to send their son to private school, because many families out there do not have the means to make a similar decision. She joined the Ohio House in 2011 and, this past spring, joined others in support of the passage of the proposed income-based scholarship.

Overall, it was refreshing to hear from lawmakers across the nation, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative, who all shared the common belief that school choice should not be a partisan issue. School choice should be about doing what is right for students everywhere and giving parents the means to choose the education that is the best fit for their students’ unique learning needs.

School Choice Ohio testifies in support of Tax Credit Scholarship Program

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Yesterday, School Choice Ohio’s Legislative Director Jason Warner testified in front of the House Education Committee in support of House Bill 158, legislation for a Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

The Tax Credit Scholarship Program, introduced with bipartisan support, would add Ohio to the growing list of states that offer a nonrefundable income credit against the income tax or certain business taxes for taxpayers who donate to nonprofit educational scholarship organizations.

Read excerpts from his testimony below.

Tax credit scholarships afford families of limited means the opportunity to send their children to a private school, without the use of public tax dollars. Instead, qualified families would have the opportunity to apply for scholarships provided by nonprofit educational scholarship organizations, or ESOs, to attend a participating private school. These scholarships are funded through donations made directly to the ESOs by individuals, married couples or business entities, which then would have the opportunity to apply for a nonrefundable income tax credit.

House Bill 158 is modeled after the very successful Florida Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship program. The Florida program, implemented in 2002, was created with the stated goal of encouraging private, voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations, the expansion of educational opportunities for children of families with limited financial resources and the enabling of children in Florida to achieve a greater level of excellence in their education.

School Choice Ohio believes the successes that have been realized in Florida and the ten other states that have tax credit scholarship programs, including our neighboring states of Indiana and Pennsylvania, can be replicated here. Organizations such as the Northwest Ohio Scholarship Fund already provide limited scholarship opportunities to students and will testify to the fact that they look forward to the opportunity to reach more families of limited means to provide their children with the quality education that is currently beyond their reach.

School Choice Ohio strongly encourages your favorable support of this important legislation. It would provide greater access to quality education to students throughout the state of Ohio. The program would provide a lifeline to families of limited means so they can provide their children with a quality education that is best suited to their individual learning needs.

Read Warner’s full testimony here.

Tax Credit Scholarship Program reintroduced with bipartisan support

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On May 7, Representatives Andrew Brenner (R – Powell) and Bill Patmon (D – Cleveland) reintroduced legislation that would create a Tax Credit Scholarship Program for Ohio’s kids. House Bill 158 was introduced with 15 bipartisan co-sponsors, and it is currently awaiting discussion in the Ohio House Education Committee.

Under the proposal, individuals, married couples or certain businesses that donate to nonprofit Educational Scholarship Organizations would be eligible to receive a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable tax credit. Educational Scholarship Organizations would then use the donations to help provide scholarships to low-income students to attend a private school.

Credits would be limited to $1,000 annually for individual donors, $2,500 for married couples and up-to $300,000 for other taxpayers, such as businesses or utilities. Credits could be carried over for up to three years before they expire.

Educational Scholarship Organizations that receive the donations would have to contribute at least 90% of the donations it receives toward scholarships for eligible students who reside in Ohio, are eligible to attend a public school and whose family meets certain financial eligibility requirements. At least 50% of the scholarships awarded each year would be required to go to students who do not currently attend a private school.

The scholarships would be worth up to $4,250 for grades K-8 and up to $7,000 for grades 9-12 each year. Families that are awarded scholarships could use them to cover the cost of tuition at any participating private school.

We are excited to hear about this proposal for a Tax Credit Scholarship Program for Ohio’s kids. We completely support it, and we’re going to need your help to get it passed! Please contact the members of the Ohio House Education Committee and encourage them to support the passage of House Bill 158.

To read House Bill 158 or learn more about it, click here.

District superintendents see importance in putting students’ needs first

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Steve Dackin, Superintendent of Reynoldsburg City Schools, spoke out as a supporter of school choice at a panel discussion put on by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on Friday.

Dackin shared some thoughts on school choice, saying that choice plays an important role in student success and parent satisfaction. He believes that schools need to start tapping into students’ passions and interests rather than focusing on a “one size fits all” education. One idea in particular that he said he aspires to is a version of an individualized education program (IEP) for every student in his district.

Reynoldsburg City Schools practices open choice, which allows students to attend the school of their choice within the district. The district offers many different options, including charter and STEM, giving families an array of choices when trying to find a great fit for their student. Dackin also addressed a critical element of choice: offering transportation to make it practical for a child to actually get to the school their family chooses.

Come to find out, a survey of 344 Ohio public school district superintendents conducted by the Farkas Duffett Research Group and Fordham found that Dackin is not the only district superintendent that is a school choice supporter. The survey found that there are other district superintendents from across the state who also support school choice.

Survey Says:
70% of district superintendents report that their districts have a total open enrollment policy

  • What it means
    District superintendents believe it is important for families to be able to choose the best learning environment for their students.

Survey Says:
59% of district superintendents believe that blended learning will bring fundamental changes for education

  • What it means
    One size does not fit all, and blended learning offers students the chance to mix technology and teacher-based instruction to create an education that fits their needs. District superintendents realize that individualized education is important for students to succeed and are working to bring it to their districts.

Survey Says:
2% of district superintendents support school choice in the form of vouchers and charter schools

  • What it means
    This handful of district superintendents support the right of parents to make the choice when it comes to the best education for their child. We couldn’t agree more! We applaud these pro-choice leaders who are putting students’ needs first.

The presentation and discussion ended with a conclusion from Dr. Richard Ross, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Ross stressed that Ohio needs to focus less on education as an institution and more on educating students based on their individual needs. According to Ross, education needs to be a portfolio of options for students, because they need choice and more options inside their schools.

It is great to see district superintendents from across the state voicing their support for school choice. We applaud these leaders that see the importance of putting students’ educational needs first.

Kevin P. Chavous speaks at Rally for School Choice

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A few weeks ago, almost 2,000 school choice supporters gathered at the Ohio Statehouse to rally for school choice at the Rally for School Choice. We were so excited to see students, parents, school leaders and supporters from across the entire state join together to show Ohio’s leaders just how important school choice is.

At the rally, we were lucky to hear from some awesome speakers who voiced their support for school choice.  We had the pleasure of hearing from Kevin P. Chavous, a national education reform leader, who told the audience that “the only way you see change is when the power is in the hands of parents!” We couldn’t agree more. Check out a video of Chavous’ speech by clicking on the picture below.

Why do you support school choice?

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A few weeks ago, nearly 2,000 school choice supporters joined us at the Ohio Statehouse for the Rally for School Choice.

Students, school leaders, parents, supporters and even some legislators came together to voice their support for school choice and advocate for the expansion of it.

Throughout the day, we asked those at the rally why they support school choice, and why they would like to see it expanded. The answers we got were awesome.

A mom: I would like to see school choice advance so kids can go wherever they want.

A student: It lets me go to a school I really like.

A teacher: Without it, half of our students would not have the opportunity to attend our school. With the EdChoice voucher, they’re able to go to our school and experience things they never would have been able to – like touring the Statehouse.

A group of parents: Because parents deserve to choose.

A mom: Vouchers let my kids go to a school they like…one that works for them.

Why do you support school choice? Leave a comment and let us know!

Preliminary List of EdChoice-eligible Schools Released

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The preliminary list of EdChoice-eligible schools for the 2013-2014 school year has been released by the Ohio Department of Education. The list is preliminary, meaning it can still change, but we anticipate that it will closely resemble the finalized version.

According to the list, students in 213 schools in 28 districts are expected to be eligible for Ohio’s EdChoice Scholarship. A student is eligible to apply for the EdChoice Scholarship if he or she is one of the following:

  • A student who is enrolled in and attending an EdChoice designated public school building
  • A student who is enrolled in a charter school, and would otherwise be assigned to an EdChoice-designated public school building
  • A student who is enrolled in a non-eligible public school or charter school but would be assigned to attend an EdChoice designated public school building in the upcoming school year
  • A student who is eligible to enter kindergarten in the upcoming school year and would be assigned to an EdChoice designated public school building

The application period will run from February 1 to April 19, 2013. EdChoice scholarships are worth up to $4,250 per year for students in grades K-8 and up to $5,000 for high school students. Once a student receives a scholarship, he or she can continue to renew the scholarship through high school graduation.

Students who currently attend a private school or are homeschooled are not eligible to apply for the scholarship.

For more information about the EdChoice Scholarship Program and for the preliminary list of EdChoice-eligible schools, click here.

Parents and students thankful for scholarships

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School Choice Ohio recently gathered with 700 parents, students, school leaders, supporters, and special guests in Cleveland to celebrate the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed the constitutionality of school vouchers. During the celebration, we were thrilled to have a parent or student from each of the state’s four scholarship programs share their stories and talk about how the scholarship programs are changing lives. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the celebration, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out. Below are their stories from the event.

Walter Woodard is an EdChoice scholarship recipient from Columbus, Ohio.

 

Tumpa Lewis is the mother of an Autism Scholarship recipient from Youngstown, Ohio.

 

Tera Myers is the mother of a Special Needs Scholarship applicant from Mansfield, Ohio.

 

A’bria Robinson is a Cleveland Scholarship recipient from Cleveland, Ohio.

SCO has big week as legislature completes spring term

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The Ohio Legislature completed its spring session this week, but not before enacting several pieces of legislation that significantly expand parental choice in education.

Monday saw Gov. John Kasich sign House Bill (HB) 487 into law. HB487, the Mid-Biennium Budget Review (MBR) included among its many provisions the elimination of the parent co-pay for the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program (CSTP).

Since the inception of the Cleveland scholarship in 1997, parents of students receiving the scholarship have been required to make an out-of-pocket payment to cover between 10-25 percent of the cost of the scholarships, depending on their income. The intent as originally introduced was for parents to be partners with the state in covering the cost of these scholarships but it didn’t take into account that parents already have to pay the additional school fees that are not covered by the scholarship.

In the 15 years since the Cleveland scholarship was introduced, three additional scholarships have been created in Ohio, and none of these scholarships have required a parent co-pay. The co-pay has been a significant financial hardship to the parents who have chosen to participate, and in many cases prevented parents who could not afford the co-payment from electing to send their children to the school of their choice.

Thanks to the leadership of Representative Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland), as well the leaders of the House and Senate finance committees, the co-pay requirement was removed in HB487. The change was effective immediately, which means that no CSTP recipient will have to pay for part of their own scholarship in the upcoming 2012-13 school year.

Along with the increase of the CSTP voucher amount to parity with EdChoice and the new eligibility of high school students for the voucher program that were added earlier, this has been a VERY good year for Cleveland students.

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Wednesday, the legislature completed work on two significant educational reform measures, House Bill 525, the so-called ‘Cleveland Plan’ and Senate Bill (SB) 316, the Education MBR.

The Cleveland Plan will impact only the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, but its impact could have far-reaching impact on all school districts throughout the state of Ohio in the years to come. Among the many provisions included in the bill is:

  • The ability of the leaders of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to modify the length of the current school day or school year, with the option of adopting a year-round schooling option.
  • The ability to share property tax money with partnering charter schools in the district. This fund will provide money to partnering charter schools based on the number of students from Cleveland that attend. When voters are asked to approve these levy dollars, the question to appear on the ballot will indicate how much of the funds will be provided to charter schools, so voters are aware ahead of time how much will be provided to these public entities.

School Choice Ohio was among the many interested parties that participated in the discussion and development of the Cleveland Plan. SCO was proud to stand in support of this bold approach to education reform in one of our state’s most struggling districts and believes that this will serve as a model for education reform not only in Ohio but across the nation.

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SB316, the Education MBR, included a number of reform measures which School Choice Ohio sought to have included. Foremost among the changes is that school districts are now required to let parents know about the Autism and Special Needs Scholarships during each IEP meeting. We hope this will be a huge step forward in letting families know about the options they have available to them.

Each of the new provisions will greatly expand availability and awareness of the scholarship programs available to families throughout Ohio. School Choice Ohio salutes the members of the Ohio General Assembly and Governor Kasich for their continued support for expanded parental choice options in Ohio.

The General Assembly is currently on recess until after the fall elections. We do anticipate a busy “lame duck” session later this year as the 129th General Assembly completes its work.

In the meantime, don’t forget to start getting to know your legislative candidates and engaging them in conversations about school choice (www.scohio.org/candidates).