Opponents, advocates for EdChoice expansion rally as Feb. 1 nears

State officials and public education advocates met in Toledo on Tuesday evening, laying out their concerns with the impending EdChoice expansion. The number of schools on the state's EdChoice voucher list is set to balloon Feb. 1 to include more than 400 of the 612 public districts in the state. Opponents of the expansion cite the funding it could take from public schools — up to around $6,000 per student that uses a voucher, depending on the district. Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, organized the meeting. Fedor, a former teacher, has been a vocal critic of EdChoice and the state report card system that places districts on the list. She noted of the more than 1,200 buildings that are on the list this coming school year, roughly half received an overall report card grade between an A and C. "This is not a system to build on achievement and modernize our education system," she said. "We deserve better and we must have change." Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, echoed similar concerns. The impending expansion comes after safe harbor provisions expired due to "constantly changing" state testing systems, he explained. "This is wrong and it's time for a change," he said. He noted buildings are considered EdChoice eligible if they have a D or F in K-3 literacy. That is something almost half of the state's elementary buildings receive — even if more than 90 percent of their students are passing the third-grade reading guarantee, he said. He added that there is no evidence existing voucher programs improve student performance. On the other side of the issue, proponents of EdChoice held a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Columbus. Supporters of the program say vouchers give families the ability to send their children to schools that best fit their needs, including private, parochial and charter schools. Citizens for Community Values, a faith-based nonprofit, invited parents and students to speak in support of the voucher program. "When the General Assembly passed the standards three to four years ago, when they passed this budget in 2019, they made a promise to parents and that promise is going to kick in in about two weeks when the EdChoice window opens," said Aaron Baer, Citizens for Community Values president. "And now we have lawmakers considering pulling the rug out from underneath these parents." Several parents gave testimonials during the press conference of how programs outside the public school realm had helped address their children's individual needs, either through smaller classes or other specialized programs. Many stressed without the voucher program, tuition for the schools their children enjoy going to would be out of their reach. Within the Legislature, there has been talk of adding an amendment to House Bill 9, currently in the Senate Higher Education Committee, to address the looming expansion. The state operates several voucher programs: EdChoice, the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship, Autism Scholarship and Cleveland Scholarship programs. The EdChoice program allows students from designated public schools to attend participating private schools, and offers additional opportunities for students at low-income schools. The 2021-21 public school list includes more than 30 buildings from Lorain County, including those in Avon Lake, Sheffield-Sheffild Lake and Midview schools. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.