25700 Science Park Dr #100 in Landmark Centre, Beachwood, OH 44122 with panelists:
•Chad L. Aldis, Vice President, Thomas B. Fordham Instit
•Stephen Dyer, Education Policy Fellow, Innovation Ohio
•Frank W. O’Linn, Ed.D, Sec for Education and Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland
•Barbara Shaner, Ohio Assoc of Schools Business Officials
Moderated by Patrick O’Donnell, Plain Dealer Education Reporter Patrick O’Donnell, The Plain Dealer
Cosponsored by The Plain Dealer, CWRU Siegal Lifelong Learning and the League of Women Voters-Greater Cleveland
Corporate Sponsor: First Interstate Properties Ltd.
State Senator Peggy Lehner tells the state school board Tuesday she hopes legislators will be cautious in making quick changes to the state’s private school tuition voucher program. (cleveland.com 1/14/2020)
3. More from Susan Kaeser Voucher Update Rural and urban interests are frequently at odds when Ohio’s lawmakers assert their interests. This division no longer applies to school vouchers.
Starting with the 2020 school year, every member of the state legislature will represent at least one school district that must use local funds to pay for students to attend a private school under Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program.
Because test scores drive eligibility and scores reflect income, the first victims of the voucher laws were high poverty districts – urban districts.
But new laws – inserted in the new state budget without public review – made the issue ubiquitous. In just three years EdChoice districts grew from 39 to more than 400 – two-thirds of the state’s 612 school districts.
The legislature needs to staunch the bleeding of public school budgets by ending the requirement that local districts pay for students they don’t educate at the expense of those they do.
Legislatures can unite on this one! They can freeze the growth of vouchers, change rules defining Edchoice schools, only grant vouchers to students leaving a public school, and starting with this school year, pay for any new vouchers they approved but didn’t fund for 2019-20.
4. Forum video:
“How do school vouchers affect our public schools and taxpayers?” Thursday March 14, 2019. 7:00-8:30pm
This panel will present information on how Ohio’s school voucher policies impact the Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools, as well as other schools in Cuyahoga County and beyond.
Panelists: Susie Kaeser, LWVO Lobby Corps and Hts Coalition for Public Education
James Posch, Cleveland Hts-Univ. Hts (CH-UH) Board of Education
Scott Gainer, CFO/Treasurer, CH-UH City School District
Meryl Johnson, Ohio State Board of Education, District 11
Moderator:Jayne Geneva, past chair Lay Finance Committee for the CH-UH Board of Education
Heights Library Main Branch 2345 Lee Road Cleveland Hts 44118 Cosponsored by Heights Coalition for Public Schools and the CHUH Council of PTAs
ADVOCACY WORKS! The legislature is beginning to respond to the backlash against public funds going to private schools. Have you contacted your legislator yet? Click on link
