More families than ever applied for state paid vouchers in the EdChoice program through the Ohio Department of Education. Spokesman Patrick Gallaway says for the second year in a row, the numbers of applicants surpassed the number of vouchers available.
“We received a total of 15, 397 applications. 11,941 were for renewals and then 3,456 were by new applicants,” Gallaway says.
There are 14,000 vouchers up for grabs, and Gallaway says at the end of this school year, the state will figure out which of those who applied for renewals will get them, and then those who administer the EdChoice program will know how many new families can get vouchers. It may be a different scenario next year, if the voucher proposal in Gov. John Kasich’s budget stands. He wants 30,000 publicly-funded vouchers next year, and 60,000 in 2013.