Big steps forward in Ohio’s private school voucher programs
Correction (12/17/20): A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated that the income-based EdChoice program was renamed the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship.
Correction (12/17/20): A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated that the income-based EdChoice program was renamed the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship.
Triennially, we Americans await the results of the international PISA tests with equal parts hope and dread, although who knows yet if we’ll get
Two groups likely to be disproportionately affected by Covid-19-related learning disruptions are students with disabilities and English language learners.
The Ohio House and Senate have each approved legislation, Senate Bill 89, which significantly changes the state’s EdChoice Scholarship program. The EdChoice Scholarship, Ohio’s largest voucher program, has been a topic of robust debate for the past year as lawmakers argued over what state report card measures should determine if a school is considered low-performing.
In policy circles, school choice and desegregation discussions often stop at the schoolhouse door.
The Cincinnati Enquirer recently published a deeply flawed and misleading “analysis” of the EdChoice scholarship (a.k.a. voucher) program.
2020 has brought no shortage of headlines—and many of them aren’t exactly heartwarming. Education is no exception.
It’s important to give Ohio school districts’ reopening plans a close look, even if they’re now void in the many locales around the state that will start the fall fully online. Eventually—hopefully sooner rather than later—this pandemic will fade, and schools will be right back in the positions they were in earlier this summer, needing to create reopening plans again.
With Covid-19 cases rising in Ohio and other parts of the nation, a depressing reality is starting to set in: A whole lot of schools aren’t going to open for in-person learning this fall.
To go back or not to go back? That’s the question on everyone’s mind as we inch closer to August and the beginning of a new school year.
Governor DeWine recently signed House Bill 164, legislation that addresses several education policies that have been affected by the pandemic.
School’s out for the summer, but thanks to coronavirus, the season seems far less carefree than usual. There are dozens of pandemic-related issues schools must contend with before they can reopen in the fall.
Approximately nine million students across the nation lack access to the internet or to internet-connected devices. Lawmakers and educators have known for years that this disparity, often referred to as the “digital divide,” can contribute to achievement and attainment gaps based on race and income.
The growth of private school choice programs in Ohio has clearly struck a nerve with the education bureaucracy. After rapid expansion in the number of schools slated to be deemed “low-performing” in 2020–21, which ballooned the number of students eligible for vouchers, choice opponents pushed for massive changes in Ohio’s EdChoice program.
It’s no secret that Covid-19 has had a massive impact on schools.
As the economy slowly reopens and Ohio returns to something resembling normalcy, it’s a nice opportunity to reflect on what we’ve learned during the pandemic. For me, time itself became very different, both in practice and in concept. The plague rid our daily lives of conventional time constraints—and freed us to use our days differently.
Editor’s Note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
As schools across Ohio stagger toward the finish line of a bizarre and difficult school year, educators, parents, and state and local leaders are beginning to turn their attention toward the uncertainties of the future.
The vast majority of voucher program studies have shown positive competitive effects, meaning that students who remain in public schools benefit as their schools are exposed to competition from private-school-choice programs.
“Education is not one-size-fits-all” is a common phrase heard in today’s education debates. There’s a good bit of truth to the mantra. Every child is unique in his or her own way, and policies and practices should reflect those differences. To its credit, Ohio acknowledges the importance of tailoring education to the needs of individual students.
The raucous debate over school choice took yet another turn last week as the Ohio House approved an amendment that would overhaul the EdChoice program.
Politics is sometimes called the “art of compromise.” Under tremendous pressure from school systems, Ohio legislators for the last few weeks have sought to find a compromise on EdChoice—Ohio’s largest voucher program—that addresses district concerns ab
High-quality academic offerings. Distance from home. Campus culture. Student safety and supports. Access to the arts, sports, and cultural opportunities. Price tag.
Sorry we have to tease out the updates on the voucher groucher saga a bit today. That’s the trouble with not posting daily (and don’t you dare suggest doing that either!).