The Enemy

School choice is not the enemy of public schools; rather, it is a component of “public education,” the ideal in the State Board of Education’s vision that all Ohioans “graduate from the PK-12 education system with the knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary” for continued education or the workforce. This position, long held by the Catholic Church , is also the basis for Ohio’s scholarship programs that provide vouchers to students disadvantaged by low income, assignment to underperforming public schools, or diagnosed special needs. Every student who attends on a voucher -- all children of taxpaying Ohioans -- represents a savings to the state due to the efficiency of nonpublic schools. Some opponents have been grasping for reasons to protest, like a recent example in the Cincinnati Enquirer , reprinted around the state, that employed some crude comparisons to conclude that state voucher programs were not performing better than public schools on state tests an...