Republican leaders in the Senate and House are working on a deal that would stop a dramatic increase in the number of public school buildings where students will be eligible for private school vouchers starting this weekend.
The clock is ticking toward Saturday, when the number of EdChoice designated school buildings will more than double.
Plans in the Senate on the performance-based EdChoice vouchers would increase state-paid need-based vouchers – perhaps going to incomes as high as 400% of the federal poverty level, or nearly $105,000 a year for a family of four. House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) has a problem with that.
“I have advised the members of our caucus, the people who are big advocates for school choice that I’ve been down the road and seen this before, and when you open the gates too wide sometimes you drown what you’re trying to save,” Householder said.
Householder also wants K-3 literacy rates to be dropped as a factor in determining whether a building is failing and therefore students qualify for EdChoice vouchers, which are taken out of school district budgets.
