Bluffton school superintendent has commented on the new school voucher plan that will impact Ohio public school. Those comments are part of the Bluffton school winter newsletter. His comments follow:
By Greg Denecker, Bluffton school superintendent
You may have seen various news reports regarding the new school voucher plan that is potentially going to impact 426 school districts in the state of Ohio.
There are just over 610 school districts in the state. At print of this newsletter, the state legislature is looking at ways to change the EdChoice Scholarship program.
I think it is important for you to know the background of this legislation and the potential impact for so many school districts throughout the state.
Background
The origins of the EdChoice scholarship program were intended as a way for students to have alternative forms of education in school districts that were deemed, by the state in its state report card, to be “failing.”
However, with the changes to the state report card and the testing system, more and more school buildings and districts are being impacted.
The increase in school buildings that are eligible, under current law, for the EdChoice Scholarship program is astonishing. During the 2018-2019 school year there were 255 buildings in the EdChoice voucher program, impacting 31 school districts.
Under current law for the 2020-2021 school year, there are 1,227 school buildings in the scholarship program, impacting 426 school districts.
While Bluffton Exempted Village Schools does not have a building that is in this EdChoice scholarship program due to our overall positive state report card, there are some excellent districts that are being impacted, and this voucher system could very well impact our district in the future.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights in Cuyahoga County and Indian Hills Exempted Village Schools in Hamilton County are both excellent school districts. Both of these districts’ performance index is in the top 10 of all districts in the state, yet both of these districts have buildings eligible for the EdChoice Scholarship as the current law stands at this time.
If this law does not change, we will continue to have more school districts eligible for EdChoice Scholarship vouchers. There are many districts where the cost of this will be substantial to their overall budget, which then will require the district to go back to the voters to ask for more funds.
Money taken away from public school districts
When these scholarships vouchers are taken to private schools, $4,650 is assigned to K-8 students while $6,000 is designated for students in grades 9-12. When this happens, money is taken away from public school districts.
I know this newsletter article is a bit unique in addressing this one topic, but I think it is important for everyone to be aware of this legislation. Hopefully, by the time this newsletter is received, some positive changes will have taken place in the legislature to help public schools that are in this situation.
The entire winter newsletter is attached below -
