Since its creation in 2005, Ohio's EdChoice Scholarship Program ? which grants $4,250 or $5,000 to students attending the state's worst schools to attend the private school of their choice ? has provided scholarships to all eligible students that apply. But this year the number of applicants exceeded the available number of slots (14,000), and it's the first year that some students attending ?D? or ?F? schools and seeking an alternative will be denied. Yesterday The Columbus Dispatch broke down the numbers and what this means for waitlisted applicants.
This year 14,708 students applied for a EdChoice voucher, which is 708 more spots than the program allows for.?To determine which students receive the voucher, priority is given to those who were awarded them last year (around 12,000 students).?After that a lottery system is used to determine the remaining 2,000 spots, followed by a waitlist of hopeful parents and students.
Despite the fact that the state holds back 200 spots for students on the waitlist (to account for applicants who don't produce the appropriate paperwork or won't be eligible),?there are more than 300 students on that waitlist who are eligible but won't recieve a voucher.
Other than obvious disappointment, what will the impact be on those who applied for the EdChoice Scholarship and weren't awarded one?? If the experience of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program is any indicator, the impact will be negative. According to a recent evaluation of the DC voucher scholarship (as reviewed in Ohio Gadfly's summer reading edition), the program had positive impacts on graduation rates, as well as on parent's perception of school safety and satisfaction.
This could mean bad news for Ohio waitlisted students. If the DC program's findings can be generalized to the Buckeye State, students applying for but not receiving a voucher may have less chance of graduating. For this reason (among many) Ohio should consider raising the cap on the EdChoice program to allow for eligible students the opportunity to attend a private school of their choice.
For more on the DC Scholarship Evaluation check this out.
Bianca Speranza, Fordham Ohio Policy & Research intern