Your calls to the legislature are needed today! The Ohio Senate is expected to unveil its plan to revise the Educational Choice (EdChoice) Voucher Program at a hearing tomorrow, Nov. 17 at 2:30 p.m. in the Senate Bill (SB) 89 conference committee. The changes would affect both the performance-based and income-based programs.
The plan would replace eligibility for the performance-based program with entirely new criteria, under which students would qualify if they meet both of the following:
- At least 20% of the student’s school district is composed of Title I-eligible students for the three most recent years; and
- The student’s building was ranked in the lowest 20% of buildings according to the Performance Index rankings for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years.
As more years of report card data becomes available, the plan would eventually use two of the three most recent school years to determine eligibility, similar to current law.
The plan would qualify 469 buildings as EdChoice eligible - a list of those buildings can be accessed here. 122 of these buildings received either an overall A, B, or C grade on the 2018-19 report card. The plan also adds 150 new buildings to the list which were not previously on the list of 500 eligible buildings from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 eligibility lists. 43 of the new buildings added are not even on the 2020-21 eligibility list of 1,227 buildings.
The plan would also increase to 250% from the current 200% the poverty threshold for the income-based EdChoice Expansion Program, the cost of which is paid for by the state.
Students who previously received a voucher, and students who are currently eligible remain eligible for the duration of their academic career, including those currently in private school and homeschooled students. The plan contains no funding to offset the excessive increase in voucher deductions.
The sponsor of the plan, Sen. Matt Huffman (R-Lima), told the Columbus Dispatch that he intends for this proposal to be enacted before the Thanksgiving holiday, meaning the plan could be passed in the coming days.
Immediate calls and contacts need to be made to the legislature today! Below are the points that need to be highlighted.
- The list of eligible buildings should never include buildings with an overall rating of A, B, or C.
- Buildings must not be added to the eligibility list that were never on the list.
- The plan must not increase the performance index percentage to 20%, from the 10% currently in law.
We will update members as we receive more information.