By Miesha Headen, DFER’s Ohio State Director
Two bills under consideration right now in Ohio – HB 136 and HB 153 (Kasich’s budget bill) – address the issue of expanding chartered nonpublic schools, commonly known as voucher schools. Of the two bills, HB 136 is by far the most expansive, mimicking the current laws in place in Florida. Republican Representative Huffman of Lima is the primary sponsor of HB 136 although there are two Democratic co-sponsors, Rep. Bill Patmon of Cleveland and Rep. Michael Stinzano of Columbus.
Under current Ohio law, voucher schools are private institutions with admissions testing, flexibility in admitting and expelling students, and fewer reporting and testing requirements compared to district schools and chartered public schools. In other words, they are subject to less accountability and do not have the same obligations under civil rights and other laws as public schools to serve all students, and can turn away those they do not wish to serve for a variety of reasons. According to testimony given before the House Subcommittee on Education, the representative of the Catholic Diocese stated that 70% of the voucher schools in Ohio are affiliated with the Catholic Church. In Cuyahoga County, home to Ohio’s largest public school district, there are 39 voucher schools of which 33 (or 85%) have religious affiliation.
The current voucher legislation restricts the voucher “scholarship” geographically; that is to say, the only families eligible to receive state funding to send their children to private schools must be residents of school districts that have been on Academic Watch or worse for at least two of the past three years. In this way, the current voucher program is targeted at those students who are being ill-served in regular public schools. HB 136 makes everyone throughout Ohio eligible regardless of the condition of his or her district school. As such, children with more challenging educational disadvantages will be competing for slots with more advantaged students and schools will be free to choose the latter over the former in their admissions processes.