A Preferential Option
Ohio’s biennial budget process is nearing completion; following its introduction by the Governor, and revisions by the Ohio House, the budget bill, HB 96, is now with the Senate. In education, the Ohio Senate is considering how to balance the needs of all Ohio students, including the third phase of the Fair School Funding Plan’s recommendations for traditional public districts, as well as the enhancements to school choice, in which more Ohioans continue to participate.
After four consecutive years of enrollment growth, our Catholic schools are more diverse than ever with regard to race, religion, socioeconomic status, and learning needs. That diversity is both a strength and a sacred responsibility that we take seriously.
I have written before about poverty and its effects on educational outcomes. One request in the budget that would be of benefit to students and schools alike is to extend Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) to qualifying students attending chartered nonpublic schools. DPIA is a multiplier that exists in Ohio’s public school funding formula that applies only to students in poverty who reside in low-income communities. The per-pupil funds that are added on through a formula calculation are restricted only for specific uses such as specialized reading intervention, mental health support, safety improvements, and the like. DPIA actualizes the preferential option for the poor that is a bedrock of Catholic Social Teaching, but currently only for students in public schools.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland serves nearly 40,000 students in 108 Catholic schools across 8 counties of Northeast Ohio. In addition to leading the largely site-based system, the Diocese itself directly operates 9 schools of its own: 5 diverse high schools and 4 urban elementary schools. The stories of some of these can help illuminate the need and opportunity.
First, consider our four diocesan elementary schools in Cleveland—Archbishop Lyke, Metro Catholic, St. Francis, and St. Thomas Aquinas—operated in partnership with the nationally recognized Partnership Schools network. Together, these schools educate nearly 1,000 students. Students are representative of their local communities demographically: the students are 71% Black, 21% Hispanic, nearly 100% from low-income households, and predominantly non-Catholic.
These are high-need, high-potential learners. The cost to educate each student exceeds $10,000 annually, while nearly all families receive the full value of the EdChoice or Cleveland Scholarship—currently $6,166 for K–8 students. Parents pay no tuition beyond the scholarship, leaving a nearly $4,000 per-pupil gap that schools must fundraise each year to sustain quality instruction, wraparound supports, and enrichment. Funding the gap is a part of our mission, but it is increasingly challenging.
These schools are delivering real academic growth, exceeding the proficiency results of nearby public options which, by comparison, received to more than $26,000 per pupil last year, with just over $10,000 delivered from the state formula, including DPIA.
Families who chose Catholic schools are just as needing of the supports DPIA was intended to provide: academic intervention, school safety, before and after school care, including high-dosage tutoring and mentoring, and services for students experiencing homelessness. Students who qualify under the traditional state formula do not shed the “disadvantage” when their parents or guardians choose to enroll them in a Catholic school.
In Cleveland and places like it, we see significant frequent movement among schools – public, charter, and nonpublic. These are not “the district’s students” nor “the Church’s students,” they are simply our students, exemplifying the proverb that, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Extending DPIA would enable chartered nonpublic schools such as our Catholic schools to enhance the much-needed resources and services they provide to young people most in need.
Such challenges are not unique to the inner city, as the case of one of our high schools illustrates. Elyria Catholic High School is the only Catholic high school in Lorain County, and it serves families from urban, suburban and rural communities over a wide geography. It has been a model of both efficiency and growth over the past five years, as enrollment has increased from 420 to 520 students—nearly full capacity—enabling strong economies of scale. Tuition remains at $10,900 this year, among the lowest in our region, while the actual cost to educate per student is much closer to $15,000.
Importantly, the number of low-income students has grown substantially—from 38 students (9%) in FY2020 to 132 students (25%) today. As a result, the total scholarship funding gap has grown from $98,800 in FY2020 to over $329,000 this year.
Some recent media coverage has painted a picture of state scholarship use that distorts this reality. It is frustrating to hear narratives from choice opponents who claim that only wealthy families are taking advantage. As Ohio’s Legislative Services Commission has reported (p. 9), it is clear that growth is being driven across the income spectrum and including by families and students who are low income. Elyria Catholic is an example of such growth, and the challenges that accompany it.
These are not elite or exclusionary institutions. They are accessible, accountable, and deeply committed to student success. All our chartered nonpublic schools follow Ohio’s Learning Standards, graduation requirements, and testing mandates. All teachers are state-certified. And all schools are subject to announced and unannounced ODEW site visits—important, longstanding accountability measures.
While the proposal to extend DPIA to chartered nonpublic school students would not close the entire funding gap, it would provide meaningful, targeted support for eligible students and the critical services DPIA is intended to fund.
You can let your Ohio Senator know of your support for DPIA in nonpublic schools.
After four consecutive years of enrollment growth, our Catholic schools are more diverse than ever with regard to race, religion, socioeconomic status, and learning needs. That diversity is both a strength and a sacred responsibility that we take seriously.
I have written before about poverty and its effects on educational outcomes. One request in the budget that would be of benefit to students and schools alike is to extend Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) to qualifying students attending chartered nonpublic schools. DPIA is a multiplier that exists in Ohio’s public school funding formula that applies only to students in poverty who reside in low-income communities. The per-pupil funds that are added on through a formula calculation are restricted only for specific uses such as specialized reading intervention, mental health support, safety improvements, and the like. DPIA actualizes the preferential option for the poor that is a bedrock of Catholic Social Teaching, but currently only for students in public schools.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland serves nearly 40,000 students in 108 Catholic schools across 8 counties of Northeast Ohio. In addition to leading the largely site-based system, the Diocese itself directly operates 9 schools of its own: 5 diverse high schools and 4 urban elementary schools. The stories of some of these can help illuminate the need and opportunity.
First, consider our four diocesan elementary schools in Cleveland—Archbishop Lyke, Metro Catholic, St. Francis, and St. Thomas Aquinas—operated in partnership with the nationally recognized Partnership Schools network. Together, these schools educate nearly 1,000 students. Students are representative of their local communities demographically: the students are 71% Black, 21% Hispanic, nearly 100% from low-income households, and predominantly non-Catholic.
These are high-need, high-potential learners. The cost to educate each student exceeds $10,000 annually, while nearly all families receive the full value of the EdChoice or Cleveland Scholarship—currently $6,166 for K–8 students. Parents pay no tuition beyond the scholarship, leaving a nearly $4,000 per-pupil gap that schools must fundraise each year to sustain quality instruction, wraparound supports, and enrichment. Funding the gap is a part of our mission, but it is increasingly challenging.
These schools are delivering real academic growth, exceeding the proficiency results of nearby public options which, by comparison, received to more than $26,000 per pupil last year, with just over $10,000 delivered from the state formula, including DPIA.
Families who chose Catholic schools are just as needing of the supports DPIA was intended to provide: academic intervention, school safety, before and after school care, including high-dosage tutoring and mentoring, and services for students experiencing homelessness. Students who qualify under the traditional state formula do not shed the “disadvantage” when their parents or guardians choose to enroll them in a Catholic school.
In Cleveland and places like it, we see significant frequent movement among schools – public, charter, and nonpublic. These are not “the district’s students” nor “the Church’s students,” they are simply our students, exemplifying the proverb that, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Extending DPIA would enable chartered nonpublic schools such as our Catholic schools to enhance the much-needed resources and services they provide to young people most in need.
Such challenges are not unique to the inner city, as the case of one of our high schools illustrates. Elyria Catholic High School is the only Catholic high school in Lorain County, and it serves families from urban, suburban and rural communities over a wide geography. It has been a model of both efficiency and growth over the past five years, as enrollment has increased from 420 to 520 students—nearly full capacity—enabling strong economies of scale. Tuition remains at $10,900 this year, among the lowest in our region, while the actual cost to educate per student is much closer to $15,000.
Importantly, the number of low-income students has grown substantially—from 38 students (9%) in FY2020 to 132 students (25%) today. As a result, the total scholarship funding gap has grown from $98,800 in FY2020 to over $329,000 this year.
Some recent media coverage has painted a picture of state scholarship use that distorts this reality. It is frustrating to hear narratives from choice opponents who claim that only wealthy families are taking advantage. As Ohio’s Legislative Services Commission has reported (p. 9), it is clear that growth is being driven across the income spectrum and including by families and students who are low income. Elyria Catholic is an example of such growth, and the challenges that accompany it.
These are not elite or exclusionary institutions. They are accessible, accountable, and deeply committed to student success. All our chartered nonpublic schools follow Ohio’s Learning Standards, graduation requirements, and testing mandates. All teachers are state-certified. And all schools are subject to announced and unannounced ODEW site visits—important, longstanding accountability measures.
While the proposal to extend DPIA to chartered nonpublic school students would not close the entire funding gap, it would provide meaningful, targeted support for eligible students and the critical services DPIA is intended to fund.
You can let your Ohio Senator know of your support for DPIA in nonpublic schools.
