Next School Year, Ohio Is Likely to Expand Vouchers and Charters Based on School Report Cards
For a long time the state of Ohio has used its school report cards, derived primarily from the aggregate standardized test scores from particular schools and school districts, as the measure of educational quality. Ohio follows up with punitive measures for the low scoring schools and districts. Next school year, Ohio is likely to crack down and impose punishments on far more school districts.
In last Sunday’s Plain Dealer, Patrick O’Donnell reported that after imposing tougher tests based on the Common Core Standards in 2015, Ohio created a “safe harbor” for school districts to adjust to the new tests. As the 2019-2020 school year begins, however, that safe harbor will expire. O’Donnell warns about a radical expansion of school choice as the number of schools and school districts with low test scores jumps:
“Ohio has long made school choice options like charter schools and vouchers… dependent on how well a student’s home school district scores on state tests. When the local public school scores poorly, Ohio law allows charter schools to start in the area and gives vouchers to kids to attend private, mostly religious, schools. Now, Ohio’s attempts to hold students and schools to tougher academic standards are making tax-funded school choice much more available.”
The number of so called “failing” schools and school districts which will be affected is startling: “Over the last few years, students in 218 schools in Ohio (along with all Cleveland students who are eligible for a separate voucher program) could receive up to $5,000 a year in tuition aid to private schools because their regular public school was considered ineffective. Next school year, that list of ineffective schools balloons to more than 475… The growth of charter-eligible districts grew even more, from 38 statewide to 217 for next school year. Once restricted to only urban and the most-struggling districts in Ohio, charter schools can now open in more than a third of the districts in the state.”
What if test scores are not really an accurate yardstick by which to measure school quality? CONTINUE READING: Next School Year, Ohio Is Likely to Expand Vouchers and Charters Based on School Report Cards | janresseger
