In 1991, in his first year as Ohio’s Governor, George V. Voinovich created the Governor’s Commission on Educational Choice. The creation of that commission, which included business and educational leaders from around the state, was the first real effort to promote school choice in Ohio and one of the first in the nation. That bold initiative was designed to inject a measure of competition into, and to encourage the continuous improvement of, Ohio’s educational system.
Much has happened in the Ohio School Choice movement in the ensuing 16 years. In the early 1990’s, a massive effort was undertaken to educate and inform policymakers at every level of government about the effects of competition in education. In 1995, the Cleveland Scholarship Program was adopted by the Ohio General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Voinovich. And in 1997, Ohio created a charter school program which provided and continues to provide additional options for Ohio’s parents and students.
In 2003, Ohio sponsored the Autism scholarship worth up to $20,000 per year for students with Autism to use to meet their special learning needs. In 2006, the legislature created the statewide Ohio EdChoice Scholarship – the first of its kind in the nation –to provide up to 14,000 vouchers to students in underperforming public schools.
In every regard, the tireless efforts of Ohio’s school choice leaders, in partnership with statewide elected officials and the legislature, have been thoughtfully designed to put Ohio’s families first. It has never been enough for Ohio’s school choice leaders to rest on their prior successes. Ohio proponents recognize that the choice movement is marked by change and enhanced calls for accountability, and while the challenges before us are profound, there is tremendous promise in the support and encouragement offered by national and state leaders.
