Reps. Manning and Odioso Introduce House Bill 715

COLUMBUS-State Representatives Gayle Manning (R-Avon) and Mike Odioso (R-Green Twp.) recently introduced House Bill 715, legislation to establish reporting requirements for chartered, nonpublic schools that receive state scholarships.

Key provisions of the bill are as follows:

• Requires the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to post annual data for each chartered nonpublic school, including total enrollment, the number of scholarship students, where those students attended the previous year, and the amount of state funding the school received;
• Requires DEW to post the total number of students participating in state scholarship programs, broken down by family income;
• Requires DEW to create a system that allows individuals to compare the academic performance data of scholarship students in chartered nonpublic schools with similar students in nearby schools; and
• Requires EdChoice applicants to list the school and, if applicable, the district they attended during the previous school year.
  

State scholarship programs under the bill include the EdChoice Scholarship Program, the Autism Scholarship Program, the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, and the Cleveland Scholarship Program.

"In Ohio, we can support school choice while still standing firmly behind our public schools," said Representative Manning. "If taxpayer dollars are funding vouchers, families and communities deserve full transparency and accountability for how that money is spent. Strengthening oversight of voucher programs and investing in our public education system are not opposing goals; they're complementary commitments to ensuring every child has access to a high-quality education."

"My goal is to preserve the awesome benefits of Ed Choice vouchers for private schools," said Representative Odioso. "House Bill 715 provides the transparency required for public expenditures without placing burdens on private school administrators."

House Bill 715 was assigned to the House Education Committee and awaits a first hearing.