Our Main Areas of Focus
At Fordham, we advocate for policies that advance educational excellence for all students. We frame issues with data and high-quality research and analysis conducted in-house and by external researchers and experts, and we offer commentary, issue advocacy, public testimony, events, and more. Our main areas of focus tend to center on three policy areas:
School Choice
We believe all students and families deserve access to high-quality school options. To ensure that a school choice sector is thriving and providing good options, strong accountability mechanisms are key. Transparent, easy-to-understand information is also important so that parents are fully empowered in their choices and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are efficiently spent.
School Funding
How Ohio funds schools is a perennial debate among elected officials. Fordham advocates for a funding formula that drives more resources to where they are needed—the disadvantaged students and the schools serving them—and is stable, efficient, and transparent. We believe Ohio’s current formula should eliminate caps,guarantees, and “phantom revenue” and fund schools of choice directly.
Standards and Accountability
We support high quality learning standards for K–12 schools, rigorous state assessments aligned to the standards, and smart accountability systems and metrics that accurately prioritize proficiency and progress, and that accurately identify schools and districts for intervention, as well as recognition.
Policy Priorities
Education priorities for Ohio’s next biennial budget, part 1: Sustained investment for literacy reform
Ohio regularly creates and funds major education policies in a two-year biennial budget, so it’s never too early to start thinking about the 2025 cycle. This is the first of several posts where I’ll discuss issues that should be on lawmakers’ radars as they gear up.
