Senate Voucher Bill Limits Building Eligibility, Grows Income Threshold, Axes Lorain ADC

Ohio Capitol Connection 2/6/20, 1010 AM

The Senate passed a proposal Tuesday to prevent many school buildings from being added to the EdChoice eligibility list next year, while increasing the number of families eligible for income-based school vouchers. Meanwhile, the House preemptively scheduled a conference committee before the Senate had finalized its version. Lawmakers are scrambling to act before the EdChoice application period opens on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Amendments adopted Tuesday for HB9 (Jones-Sweeney), a bill originally introduced to address college credit transferability, also would abolish the Lorain Academic Distress Commission at the end of this fiscal year. The bill passed the Senate 26-7, with a unanimous vote beforehand to maintain an emergency clause, allowing EdChoice changes to take effect immediately upon the governor's signature.

The Senate Higher Education Committee met shortly after 6 p.m. to quickly adopt three amendments to HB9: one directed at the underlying purpose of the bill, one changing EdChoice eligibility, and one eliminating Lorain's distress commission. Two additional EdChoice-related amendments were added on the Senate floor.

Under current law, the list of EdChoice eligible schools is set to grow to more than 1,200 in the coming school year, more than double its current number. The amendments accepted Tuesday would exempt for the next three school years any building with an overall report card grade of A, B or C, as well as those with a D that are not in the bottom 20 percent of the report card's Performance Index. But it would also increase the threshold for qualifying for an income-based EdChoice voucher from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 300 percent.

https://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=dHginRhzwqQ%3d&u=vI2ndwCORkE%3d Page 1 of 5 Ohio Capitol Connection 2/6/20, 1010 AM

Changes adopted Tuesday also will provide $30 million to public schools to offset funding losses from EdChoice deductions.

The amendment also curtails new eligibility language for eighth grade students, which was added in the operating budget, HB166 (Oelslager).

According to a list distributed by Senate Republicans, the proposal would result in 425 schools being on the EdChoice list next year, versus 1,227 under current law. This year, 517 schools are on the list.

The committee tabled numerous amendments from Sen. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland) to make further changes, including repeal of HB166 language expanding the income-based vouchers to all grades, and a cap on school district funding losses from EdChoice deductions. She was successful on the floor in adding an amendment to send unused funding from the separate Cleveland scholarship program back to Cleveland Municipal Schools.

The Lorain amendment does not specifically name the district but targets for elimination any distress commission in a district that earned a D on its most recent report card, which is not the case for the other two districts in academic distress, East Cleveland and Youngstown. Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), who represents Lorain, sponsored the amendment. The House and Senate have been at odds on changes to the academic distress law this session, and the constitutionality of the commissions is under review by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The remaining amendment removes a requirement that higher education institutions report to the Ohio Department of Higher Education when they refuse to accept transfer credits, instead requiring that students be given information on the transfer appeals process and the Ohio Department of Higher Education's student complaint portal.

After session, Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) told reporters he’s not sure how the House will respond to the changes, but is happy with his chamber’s work.

https://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=dHginRhzwqQ%3d&u=vI2ndwCORkE%3d Page 2 of 5 Ohio Capitol Connection 2/6/20, 1010 AM

“I feel good about where we ended up. We had a supermajority vote. We had a bipartisan vote, and one that I think carefully balanced the different competing interests to make sure we did what was right for schoolchildren across the state of Ohio, whether they’re EdChoice schoolchildren or people attending traditional public schools,” Obhof said.

Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) discussed the EdChoice changes on the floor, saying it would be harmful and wrong to send the message that more than 1,200 school buildings are underperforming or failing.

“That has an economic impact on people’s decisions about where to site their businesses and where to live. And it’s not factual. Our schools are not failing at that level. What happened was our metric system is wrong. It is artificially inflating those numbers to over 1,000. What we’re doing today is saying that’s not acceptable to us,” Dolan said.

Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) blasted the bill, saying the state government should focus more on funding public schools rather than diverting tax dollars to subsidize private and religious schools.

“Ohio’s children have the right to receive a quality public school education,” Fedor said. “The expansion of Ohio’s voucher program undermines the state’s ability to fulfill its constitutional obligation. This money would be better spent in our publicly accountable schools on evidence-based programs and services that we know will improve outcomes for public school students.”

Fedor was joined by Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights) and Sens. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), Tina Maharath (D-Canal Winchester), Sean O’Brien (D- Cortland), Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) in voting against HB9.

The House was in recess for much of Tuesday afternoon to await the Senate proposal but ultimately called it quits in favor of meeting Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. The notice for a 10:30 a.m. conference committee was sent out Tuesday morning, even before the Senate Higher Education Committee was originally scheduled to meet. After acting Tuesday night, the Senate recessed until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

https://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=dHginRhzwqQ%3d&u=vI2ndwCORkE%3d Page 3 of 5 Ohio Capitol Connection 2/6/20, 1010 AM

After Tuesday’s House session, House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) said his greatest concern is whether there will be fair competition. He said with the Feb. 1 deadline, they don’t know how many students will be affected yet. He also addressed the discussion of an income threshold as high as 400 percent of federal poverty, as Sen. Matt Huffman (R-Lima) has previously suggested, saying with such threshold, “we’re probably opening the gate pretty, pretty wide when they do that."

“I have advised the members of our caucus, those people who are widely big advocates for school choice, that you know I’ve been down the road before and seen this before, and when you open the gates too wide, sometimes you drown what you’re trying to save. So we need to make sure that we’re doing the right thing and we’re being very prudent in how we do it and we’re taking into consideration the needs of all the kids in the state,” he said.

Householder said the House wants three outcomes from the bill. He said K-3 literacy should not be used as a benchmark for determining eligibility. He also said they believe there should be a drop-dead deadline. Current law calls for a 75-day application process, but Householder said the law doesn’t say it ends at any time. Having a quicker deadline will allow the public schools to understand what students they will be serving. Householder said he is advocating for a period of Feb. 1 through April 1, a 60-day period.

“That way that gives plenty of time for school districts to adjust what they’re going to be doing in the fall,” He said. “It also allows the voucher schools to adjust for the influx of the new students they may get.”

He said the House has also advocated that the Senate create a joint committee to give lawmakers an opportunity to hear testimony from a variety of people, including parents, educators, and public and private schools. Lawmakers would then have more information going into the next budget cycle -- “so we get a better feeling of the impact this has on the state.”

Asked if lawmakers considered pushing back the Feb. 1 deadline, Householder said they looked at it and didn’t like it because many families have planned for next year.

Householder separately released a prepared statement noting Wednesday's House schedule and saying simply, "We look forward to reviewing the Senate’s proposals."

https://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=dHginRhzwqQ%3d&u=vI2ndwCORkE%3d Page 4 of 5 Ohio Capitol Connection 2/6/20, 1010 AM

A list distributed by Senate Republicans of schools whose EdChoice eligibility would be affected by the proposal is available at www.hannah.com > Breaking News.

THE HANNAH COLLECTION Capitol Connection | Hannah Report| ActionTRACK™ Ohio News Wire | The Complete Statehouse | State Health Clips 21 West Broad Street, Suite 1000 (10th Floor) Columbus, OH 43215 614.227.5820 phone - 614.228.5897 fax

https://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=dHginRhzwqQ%3d&u=vI2ndwCORkE%3d Page 5 of 5