The Senate has approved a deal that take more than 800 public school buildings off the list of more than 1,200 where students will be eligible for private school vouchers starting this weekend.
The Senate plan on the performance-based EdChoice vouchers would increase state-paid need-based vouchers to 300% of the federal poverty level, or more than $78,000 a year for a family of four. House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) has a problem with expanding those vouchers past the 200% level.
“I have advised the members of our caucus, the people who are big advocates for school choice that I’ve been down the road and seen this before, and when you open the gates too wide sometimes you drown what you’re trying to save.”
Householder also wants K-3 literacy rates to be dropped as a factor in determining whether a building is failing and therefore students qualify for EdChoice vouchers, which are taken out of school district budgets.
The Senate deal also includes a last minute change to dissolve academic distress commissions for school districts that received a D or higher for the latest report card - that appears to apply only to the Lorain City Schools. Democrats on the committee voted against the deal, but have wanted an end to state school takeovers.
Householder issued this statement after the Senate committee passed the bill: “We look forward to reviewing the Senate’s proposals. The House is scheduled to reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday. A House-Senate conference committee has already been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.”
