This bill will increase school vouchers in Ohio ten-fold come 2012-2013. The Kasich budget already increased vouchers from 14,000 to 30,000 this upcoming school year.

Needless to say, this HB will allow students from ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL Districts in Ohio to apply for school vouchers to attend parochial or charter schools in Ohio. With that being said, it means that students from Boardman, Poland, Canfield (not sure many in those two districts would need them), Austintown, Howland, Niles, Girard, etc. could for the first time ever apply for vouchers to attend JFK, Ursuline, or Mooney.

There is no doubt this bill will pass in Columbus with the GOP in charge and because it has bi-partisan support.

I wanted to post this today because this should have some noticeable effects on the playing field as well. Kids from the suburbs that wanted to go to private schools, that couldn't because their families could not afford it, will now be able to do just that.

Private schools will become larger in size because of HB136, and because of the larger number of students attending these schools, they should be able to move up in divisions.

What say you!?

Open the floodgates

If they become larger, they will be in divisions that at least make (closer) sense, so that will make publics happy.

However, they lose enrollment at the same time. Could drive the publics to just split off completely if the OHSAA leaves everything as is.

EMBRACE THE CHANGE!!!

People who say the publics should separate fail to realize if they do, they will have NO CONTROL over private schools and their enrollment, transfers, etc.

People fail to recognize the consequences of such a move.

mvred;837518 wrote:This bill will increase school vouchers in Ohio ten-fold come 2012-2013. The Kasich budget already increased vouchers from 14,000 to 30,000 this upcoming school year.

Needless to say, this HB will allow students from ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL Districts in Ohio to apply for school vouchers to attend parochial or charter schools in Ohio. With that being said, it means that students from Boardman, Poland, Canfield (not sure many in those two districts would need them), Austintown, Howland, Niles, Girard, etc. could for the first time ever apply for vouchers to attend JFK, Ursuline, or Mooney.

There is no doubt this bill will pass in Columbus with the GOP in charge and because it has bi-partisan support.

I wanted to post this today because this should have some noticeable effects on the playing field as well. Kids from the suburbs that wanted to go to private schools, that couldn't because their families could not afford it, will now be able to do just that.

Private schools will become larger in size because of HB136, and because of the larger number of students attending these schools, they should be able to move up in divisions.

What say you!?

It sounds like the private schools will be in the same position that open enrollment public schools are currently in.

mvred;838406 wrote:People who say the publics should separate fail to realize if they do, they will have NO CONTROL over private schools and their enrollment, transfers, etc.

People fail to recognize the consequences of such a move.

Agree 100%

I would just add, that the quality of football throughout the state would suffer greatly. We'd become New York or New Jersey with a number of very good schools that are way above everyone else, and a bunch of no names

It would be a shame

The Catholic schools are not clamoring for lots of non-Catholics to attend their schools, despite what the haters say, even if the non-Catholics are fantastic players in a sport. The mission of Catholic schools is not to win state championships, any more than the mission of public schools is to win state championships. Making kids winners should be the overall mission of any school. That subtlety might be lost on some folks, especially if they have their own axes to grind. This will put a private school education within the reach of many more families, and free them from the cruel prison of low expectations. But don't think it will drastically change the athletic balance between public and private schools.

Rocket08;838727 wrote:Agree 100%

I would just add, that the quality of football throughout the state would suffer greatly.

My guess is that football is not what is driving this bill. I'm sure Kasich doesn't care about football.

ernest_t_bass;838731 wrote:My guess is that football is not what is driving this bill. I'm sure Kasich doesn't care about football.

Agreed. I don't think HS athletics in any form are the influencing characteristic of initiating this bill.

Con_Alma;838829 wrote:Agreed. I don't think HS athletics in any form are the influencing characteristic of initiating this bill.

I agree as well, but HS athletics will be affected by this bill. Living in Austintown, I know quite a few people from this suburb of Youngstown alone that would love to send their kids to Ursuline if they had the financial resources to do so. In many cases, these kids are fine athletes that end up attending Austintown Fitch.

I think people having greater input into educational decisions in most all capacities regarding their children is a good thing. The impact it may or may not have on athletics is so unimportant compared to the impact it can have on people choosing where to send their kids to school...and I love HS football.

mvred;838967 wrote:I agree as well, but HS athletics will be affected by this bill. Living in Austintown, I know quite a few people from this suburb of Youngstown alone that would love to send their kids to Ursuline if they had the financial resources to do so. In many cases, these kids are fine athletes that end up attending Austintown Fitch.

If the families truly can't afford to send their kids, there are financial aid opportunities. With that being said, many families who "can't afford it" do things such as go on vacation, have cell phones, cable tv, etc.

ernest_t_bass;838731 wrote:My guess is that football is not what is driving this bill. I'm sure Kasich doesn't care about football.

If you had read my entire post, you would have noticed that my response was to a specific point regarding the possible eventual separation of Public and Private schools on the football field. I made no correlation to this bill and how it would affect things on the field

Al Bundy;838566 wrote:It sounds like the private schools will be in the same position that open enrollment public schools are currently in.

Not really. A lot of open enrollment schools actually have pretty firm rules on who can open enroll. I know my alma mater allows it, but only from a contiguous district. It's not like someone from another county can come over and enroll to play sports. And all the schools around us have the same restriction.

I'm pretty sure Columbus Schools also have some restrictions now on open enrollment, don't they? Not sure what they are since I don't follow the City League here as much as I used to.

There are both border and non-border open enrollment schools. Some accept kids from abutting communities while some accept kids from anywhere.

Writerbuckeye;839219 wrote:Not really. A lot of open enrollment schools actually have pretty firm rules on who can open enroll. I know my alma mater allows it, but only from a contiguous district. It's not like someone from another county can come over and enroll to play sports. And all the schools around us have the same restriction.

I'm pretty sure Columbus Schools also have some restrictions now on open enrollment, don't they? Not sure what they are since I don't follow the City League here as much as I used to.

Your school has the option of allowing anyone in the state to enroll. If they choose to exclude students, that is their decision. A private school may also deny students enrollment.