Akron
Beacon Journal...
Gusher of vouchers
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Are private schools ready for what the Statehouse proposes?
The Statehouse is not disappointing school-choice advocates who long
have clamored for a massive expansion of Ohio’s scholarship programs.
Stinging criticism may yet put the brakes on the House’s bid to remove
restrictions on for-profit operators of charter schools. But it hardly
is slowing the drive to alter dramatically the landscape for options.
The extent — and the haste — of the proposed changes are good reason
for caution about overreach.
John Kasich proposed in his budget plan to extend the Cleveland
Scholarship and Tutoring Program for the first time to high school
students. The governor also would double the number of Educational
Choice scholarships in 2012 and double it again in 2013. More
expansive, legislation introduced by state Rep. Matt Huffman, a Lima
Republican, would replace both scholarship programs with a Parental
Choice and Taxpayer Savings Scholarship Program.
The current programs permit students to transfer to private schools if
their neighborhood schools persist in Academic Watch or Academic
Emergency longer than two years. The Huffman bill, H.B. 136, would
entitle any student in any public school who meets the income criteria
to a scholarship for private school. In addition, the state treasurer
would be required to open an education savings account for each student
to hold any unused scholarship funds, for future educational expenses
including college.
Granted, it is fundamentally unfair to restrict students to schools
that fail to prepare them academically. But when lawmakers promote a
remedy, the responsibility is to ensure there is capacity in the
alternative system to support a rapid influx of students — the space,
the staff and the quality — to justify the diversion of public funds to
private institutions.
Without question, the 5-year-old EdChoice program is growing in
popularity. This year, it almost hit the annual cap of 14,000 awards.
Still, it is a huge leap to 60,000 scholarships in two years. So is the
virtually unlimited expansion H.B. 136 seeks.
Lawmakers must consider whether the private school system has the
capacity to handle a rapid influx and still deliver a higher quality of
education. Or whether the guarantee of a state revenue stream will
serve only as an invitation for education entrepreneurs to exploit
families searching for options.
Read it at the Akron Beacon Journal
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