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Five Statewide Education Organizations Oppose School Voucher Expansion

Posted on: Friday, 17 March 2006, 12:00 CST

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Five statewide education organizations spoke out today in opposition to the legislature's proposal to expand Ohio's new school voucher program. Included in a recently introduced budget corrections bill (HB 530), the new proposal would expand opportunities for parents to utilize public school district dollars to take students out of public schools and go to private schools.

The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) stated in a letter to House Speaker Jon Husted that HB 530 is not the appropriate vehicle for the change and it will not allow for sufficient debate on the issue. "The expansion of the EdChoice Voucher Program is not a technical correction to provisions in HB 66 (the state budget bill). It is a major policy change," explained Barbara Shaner, OASBO Director of Legislative Services.

Gary Allen, president of the OEA said, "The EdChoice Voucher Program is unproven and there has not been enough time to properly evaluate its value and efficiency. It is very premature to expand the program now."

Darold Johnson who represents the Ohio Federation of Teachers noted, "Statistics show that voucher students in private schools perform no better than those attending the schools they leave."

The group said that this program, and now its expansion, creates even more financial difficulty for school districts already facing tough choices when it comes to providing services to students. "State resources should be used to improve public schools' ability to serve and educate students, not encourage them to leave," stated Tom Ash of BASA.

Accountability for the expenditure of public dollars is also an issue. Fred Pausch, Director of Legislative Services for OSBA said, "The private schools that will receive these vouchers do not have to follow state rules and regulations for fiscal or student accountability. We think parents and taxpayers have a right to know how these schools are performing and that is almost impossible. The voucher students have to take the state proficiency tests, but the other students do not. There is no way a parent can evaluate the effectiveness of the school before they enroll their child."

The EdChoice Voucher Program was established last year through the state's biennial budget bill. It allows parents with students in school buildings that are considered to be in academic "emergency" to take their students to any private school of their choice using public school (taxpayer) dollars. The proposal in the budget corrections bill would expand this option to include school buildings in academic "watch." While no new appropriation is included in the HB 530 proposal, the change could affect more school buildings and school districts.

HB 530 is expected to move swiftly through the House and the Senate. If the bill goes through as scheduled, Governor Bob Taft is expected to sign the bill into law by April 1st.

The Buckeye Association of School Administrators is a nonprofit professional organization of school system leaders, specifically, superintendents, central office administrators, building-level administrators, higher education administrators and faculty, graduate students and other educational personnel.

The Ohio Association of School Business Officials is a not-for-profit educational management organization dedicated to learning, utilizing and sharing the best methods and technology of school business administration.

The Ohio Education Association represents 130,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio's public schools, colleges and universities.

The Ohio School Boards Association is in its 50th year of service to public education and represents the state's public school boards' members. OSBA's services include management consulting, continuing education through training programs and workshops, policy development, legal services, legislative initiatives, management services, superintendent and other executive searches, information, technology, employee relations and communications.

Ohio Education Association

CONTACT: Gary Allen, OEA, +1-614-227-3071; or Tom Ash, BASA,+1-614-846-4080; or Darold Johnson, OFT, +1-614-257-4191; or Fred Pausch,OSBA, +1-614-540-4000; or Barbara Shaner, OASBO, +1-614-431-9116

Web site: http://www.ohea.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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