What is? Choice of school
With school choice debates raging in states across the country, author Neal McCluskey helps us answer important questions like “what is it” and “why is it controversial?”
Ohio joined the growing number of states passing pro-school legislation by expanding its voucher program to more families.
“Ohio is the eighth school-choice state in just two years,” Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, told Fox News. “The Dam is Breaking for Government School Monopoly.”
The $86 billion budget Gov. Mike DeWine signed Tuesday included pro-school choice policies, joining Arizona, West Virginia, Iowa, Utah, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma in passing a similar legislation in the last two years.
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Ohio’s voucher expansion allows families earning up to 450 percent of the federal poverty line ($135,000 for a family of four) to apply for grants. Previously, only families earning up to 250% of the poverty line were eligible.
Scholarships provided increased 12 percent, the same increase public schools received, to about $6,200 for K-8 students and $8,400 for high school students to use for private schools or for home education
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School choice has become increasingly popular in states across the country, recently passed in Arizona, Utah, Iowa and, most recently, Ohio. (iStock)
Funding a family receives depends on income, although scholarships will not be less than 10% of the total scholarship amount, according to Dayton Daily News.
“Ohio now joins the growing list of states that are empowering every family with school choice by making every K-12 student eligible for an Opportunity Grant,” he said in Fox Jason Bedrick, Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. news
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“Governor DeWine and state legislators deserve great credit for putting families in the driver’s seat when it comes to their children’s education,” Bedrick added. “Families deserve to be able to choose learning environments that align with their values and best suit their children’s unique learning needs. In Ohio, that aspiration is becoming a reality.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state’s education budget Tuesday. It included an expansion of the state’s school voucher program. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
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Families will be able to verify their income by showing eligibility for other state and federal income-based programs, signing an affidavit of compliance, or providing other information requested by the Department of Education.
The EdChoice program currently costs about $350 million annually and is distributed to more than 60,000 students, according to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.
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School vouchers first became available in Ohio in Cleveland in 1996 and then expanded statewide in 2005, according to the Ohio Department of Education website.
“Educational freedom is flowing through red states and teachers unions can’t do anything about it,” DeAngelis said. “I’d like to thank Randi Weingarten and her union allies for overplaying their hand and awakening a sleeping giant: parents.”
Click here for more information on school choice.
