Agudath Israel Supports Governor DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly’s Focus on Students and Families

By BJLife Newsroom
Posted on 07/01/21

COLUMBUS, OH (July 1, 2021) – In a bipartisan vote, Ohio House and Senate voted to pass H.B. 110, the state's biennial operating budget. With the signing of the bill by Governor DeWine, the bill now creates law that is welcomed by families and education advocates alike.

Agudath Israel of Ohio’s executive director, Rabbi Yitz Frank, praised the General Assembly for their vision. "Expanding school choice options empowers underserved families to choose the school that works best for their child. On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of students that benefit from these provisions, we thank Senate President Huffman and Speaker Cupp, who deserve credit for crafting a compromise that will allow all children in Ohio to thrive. We also thank Governor DeWine for his ongoing support of school choice and its crucial role in Ohio’s education landscape.”

The bill includes many key provisions that expand school choice. Included in these changes are:

• EdChoice and Cleveland Scholarships increase to $5,500 per pupil in grades K-8 and $7,500 per pupil in grades 9-12.

• Expands scholarship eligibility to include siblings of current scholarship students, students in foster and kinship care, and students entering 9th grade.

• Increases the value of special needs scholarships.

• Eliminates deductions from districts' state aid and instead directly funds EdChoice and Cleveland scholarship programs and charter schools.

• Creates a $750 state tax credit for individual contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO). Existing or newly formed SGOs may make contributions to tuition accounts for students enrolled at a private school.

• Creates the ACE Education Savings Account program to provide $500 for education expenses for students with income levels below 300% FPL

"Yesterday's bill signing marks the culmination of many months of hard work by Agudath Israel of Ohio's Rabbi Yitz Frank and other advocates, including thousands of parents who contacted legislators about the need for additional school choice options," said Rabbi A.D Motzen, national director of state relations, of Agudath Israel. "Ohio now has one of the largest and most robust school choice programs in the country, benefiting thousands of families choosing Jewish and other nonpublic schools."