State funding private schools

SANDUSKY — Public schools face more financial challenges than ever before.State funding continues to decrease and students can opt to attend private schools through state-sponsored Ohio scholarships available to families, which take away funding from the public school districts where they live.A traditional education choice scholarship allows state funding to be diverted to private schools based on the number of students transferring from underperforming public schools. An education choice expansion scholarship, on the other hand, lets low-income students transfer to a private school of their choice.During the 2018-19 school year, almost 11,000 Ohio students took advantage of education choice scholarships, according to data from edchoice.org. The previous 2017-18 school year, the average scholarship was worth about $4,100.This past spring, Sandusky Central Catholic School conducted recruitment campaign to attract more students to the school through the state-sponsored scholarship program. This year, the private school will receive almost $500,000 from Sandusky Schools due to students in Sandusky attending or transferring to the Catholic school on scholarship."These funds will take away from Sandusky Schools students receiving and having access to textbooks, technology, wraparound services, teachers, counselors and social workers," Sandusky Schools superintendent Eugene Sanders said.In Fremont, Bishop Hoffman Catholic School will receive almost $193,000 from Fremont Schools, which could have been used to pay four teachers and buy two buses and day-to-day school supplies, superintendent Jon Detwiler said. The district lost 32 students due to the scholarship.In coming years, the scholarship program will keep growing.Ohio's newest budget bill approved by state lawmakers in July included a $50 million expansion for education choice scholarships to begin in the 2020-21 school year for families below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Additionally, the new two-years budget bill now allows all low-income students in grades K-12 eligible for a scholarship and families more time to apply.Scholarships for kindergarten through eighth-grade student go up to $4,700 while $6,000 is available for high school students.Chad L. Aldis, vice president for Ohio Policy and Advocacy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, praised the scholarship program's expansion and new budget overall."When it comes to education, this budget really does put kids first," he said. "The expansion of eligibility for the EdChoice scholarship allowing more low-income Ohioans to access private school choice options is an important step forward. Finally, the additional resources provided to Ohio's highest performing charter schools should help more families than ever have access to a high quality school. All in all, this was a really good budget year for kids and parents."Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook.com/CaitliNearhoodSandusky Schools will lose $500,000 to Sandusky Central Catholic School due to state-sponsored education choice scholarships. Fremont Schools, meanwhile, will lose almost $200,000 to Bishop Hoffman Catholic School.