Representative Gayle Manning Supports Ohio House Passage of Education Reform, Creates the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship Program

State Rep. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) voted in support of Senate Bill 89, the legislation repeals the controversial EdChoice voucher program and replaces it with the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship, which gives first priority to low-income students. Including passing Senate Bill 89, the Ohio House also voted overwhelming to adopt Manning’s amendment dissolving Academic Distress Commissions.

“The people of Lorain County deserve to have a say in how their local schools are run, just like your constituents deserve a voice in your local schools,” said Manning in her House floor testimony. “And that’s precisely what my amendment does.”

In Ohio, there are three Academic Distress Commissions in Youngstown, East Cleveland, and Lorain. While originally created as a model to improve struggling school districts, Manning stated in her testimony that once they take over, virtually every aspect of district operation is in their hands.

Manning’s amendment would end these commissions and does not allow new ones to be created until at least 2024. However, if they so wish, local district school boards and their respective superintendent may work with a state-appointed School Transformation Board to assist them in finding solutions pertaining to academic distress. The amendment is supported by several groups including the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Federation of Teachers, and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees.

Regarding Senate Bill 89, under current law, the EdChoice program allows students in public schools to be eligible for private school tuition if schools fail to meet state performance guidelines or based off of the students’ family income. The Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship program would solely be based on family income.

“This is the type of true education reform our state has needed as it helps remove that pressure off the local communities when it comes to funding and moves it to this income-based model, which is provided by the state,” said Manning. “We also wanted to make sure we raise the poverty level guideline percentage so that more low-income families have the opportunity to send their children to a school of their choosing.”

Under the reform, the income-based only system qualifies families at up to 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines for full scholarship funding, increasing the poverty level from the current 200 percent. Above the 250 percent, individuals are able to be awarded pro-rated funding of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

Senate Bill 89 also ensures that students currently receiving the EdChoice voucher will be eligible to renew their voucher under Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship, provided they meet other eligibility requirements for renewal.

The legislation approved Wednesday also lays the groundwork for additional education reform by creating a new committee to review all state and federal testing mandates. This will complement separate work being done to reform Ohio’s school report card system.

“In passing this legislation, we have helped our future generations of students to be given a better chance to thrive in a classroom of their choice.” said Manning. “Not only does this provide benefits to our students and communities with the new structure of the Buckeye Opportunity Scholarship, but we have implemented a procedure to take an in-depth look at finding a solution to our broken school report card system moving forward.”

Last week, Manning supported to pass an amendment to Senate Bill 120, which changed the opening date for voucher applications from Feb. 1 to April 1 of this year. The extension paved the way

The Ohio General Assembly began these EdChoice discussions that originated as a “fix” to the program before the original Feb. 1 deadline and has now become an opportunity for the House to develop a significant reform plan that gives top priority for scholarships to low-income students and protect local school district funding.