Even school choice opponents should support open enrollment
Now that the latest state budget is officially in the books, it’s safe to say that school choice stole the show.
Now that the latest state budget is officially in the books, it’s safe to say that school choice stole the show.
On June 30, the Ohio House and Senate passed the state’s biennial budget bill for FYs 2024–25, and Governor DeWine signed the bill into law on July 3.
The end of our parental education journey is drawing near: Less than a year from now, both of our children will be looking at college graduation.
Budget conference committee continues
One purpose of charter schools is to serve as laboratories of innovation for public education—a deliberate effort to do things differently than the long-entrenched traditional district model.
Despite serving tens of thousands of students each year—most of whom are low-income—Ohio has a regrettable track record of underfunding its public charter schools.
In its biennial budget plan for FYs 2024–25, the Senate—as did the House—proposed a hefty increase in K–12 education spending.
Since the 1980s, education reform efforts have sought to shake up the stodgy, traditional landscape of public schooling in the United States. One way to do that is to start schools from scratch that can introduce innovative new education models and push traditional systems to improve.
To use football parlance, education reform often feels like three yards and a cloud of dust. Yet sometimes the gains are bigger—a long forward pass—and that’s what the Ohio Senate’s final budget bill, which passed the chamber yesterday, would amount to. These are the key proposals in their game plan.
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.
Today, the Ohio Senate unveiled its version of the biennial state budget (Substitute House Bill 33). Among the K-12 education highlights from the upper chamber’s bill include: Increasing accountability for the state education agency to rigorously implement education laws through much-needed governance reforms;
One of the more variable aspects of charter school operation around the country is the system by which schools are authorized and managed.
With the budget bill speeding to the finish line, the Statehouse rumor mill is cranking into high gear. Among the rumblings is an effort by a few charter advocates to weaken the state’s sponsor evaluation system.
One more story from National Charter Schools Week
Another Charter Schools Week is in the books
Earlier this week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the state budget bill for FYs 2024 and 2025. The House legislation follows up on Governor DeWine’s budget introduced in February. Included in this massive legislation are hundreds of provisions affecting K–12 education. How did the lower chamber do?
The state budget bill that was passed by the House this week contains a provision that, if enacted, would be a boon to some of Ohio’s most vulnerable children and a vital support to the schools that serve them.
A basic principle of school funding is that dollars ought to follow students to the schools they actually attend. Funds shouldn’t be directed to the schools that children attended last year or the year before. That’s because the schools serving students today bear the responsibility—and costs—of educating them today.
Kudos to charters and their staffers across Ohio