School Choice Ohio Blog

The Dispatch reported today on suggestions designed to help Columbus Public School leaders wrestle with how to control transportation costs.

“We don’t want to just talk about transportation alone,” said Superintendent Gene Harris, saying that the big goal is enticing parents to return their kids to their neighborhood schools.

School choice “was a value that a board of education several years ago had,” Harris said, adding that “now what our current board is going to have to decide is what their current values are.”

It’s certainly not a bad thing to promote neighborhood schools, but CPS should be careful not to entice parents back to neighborhood schools by closing the choice options.

Remember last month when The Dispatch reported that fully 45% of CPS’s students attend a school other than their assigned neighborhood school? That’s a lot. And it’s parents, not board members, making the decisions to match their kids to an environment where they think they can be successful.

As comments on the article suggest, a shift away from these options could alienate families and push even more parents to look outside the district options – whether by moving outside the district, attending a charter, or using an EdChoice voucher to attend private school.

Though transportation is a tough nut to crack, we hope the board will redouble their commitment to quality school choice and tackle the creative problem solving required to provide quality, efficient transportation.

- Chad L. Aldis

Rounding out a decade of booming growth in education options, school choice moved forward in 2009 with new energy and quality. Among the year’s highlights:

• The number of Ohio students using the state’s three scholarship programs continued to climb. In 2009, more than 20,000 students benefitted from the Autism Scholarship, Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, and EdChoice Scholarship.

• School choice programs survived threats of severe budget cuts in a difficult financial year. Despite some fiscal cuts, these options remain for families searching for the best environment for their children’s education.

• The Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program received international attention. School Choice Ohio staff and other Ohio education leaders met with Japanese education officials looking to emulate Ohio’s school choice programs.

• More and more parents raised their voices for school choice. Active parental school choice ambassadors are organizing EdChoice floats in community parades, hosting community information meetings, inviting legislators to visit their schools, speaking at conferences, and telling the story of school choice across Ohio. 

• High quality, innovative public school choice options in Cleveland garnered well-earned praise. In a school district that struggles to overcome a lot of obstacles and inertia, school choice is a point of light thanks to school leaders for whom “failure is not an option; neither is mediocrity.”

• New state testing and reporting requirements means increased transparency for Ohio’s scholarship programs. Parents and the public will have more information than ever about how students using vouchers achieve and grow academically.

• The Ohio Senate included the creation of a new Special Education Scholarship in their version of the state budget. The proposed scholarship would expand the Autism Scholarship to students with all learning disabilities. It was nixed before becoming law, but families continue to seek alternatives.

And with that, we here at School Choice Ohio wish you a Happy New Year!

- Sarah Pechan

In a school district that struggles to overcome a lot of obstacles and inertia, school choice in Cleveland is a point of light.

An article by Thomas Ott in this week’s Cleveland Plain Dealer highlights the student achievement successes of public choice schools in the mayoral-led Cleveland school district. District CEO Eugene Sanders has long promoted innovation in Cleveland and has said that he wants half of the district schools to become choice schools.

And it’s working.

Sans student admission standards, these public schools are pushing themselves to reach all students and teach them effectively. Among notable success factors:

• High expectations: “Failure is not an option; neither is mediocrity”
• Outside-the-box initiative: “We need entrepreneurial educators. We need people who are willing to take risks”
• Support from the teacher unions: “I think we can be innovative in every school”
• Individual attention: “Principal: I can be on top of every kid’s academic program”

Kudos to district CEO Eugene Sanders and the school leaders, teachers, and staff who create and foster these pockets of excellence. When innovation contributes to effectiveness, kids can begin building for a bright future. And when kids win, we all win.

- Sarah Pechan