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Locals rally at Statehouse in support of school choice
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Mike Pecchia recalled the “tears of joy” running down the cheeks of a single mother after her four children enrolled in a safer, better school, thanks to state voucher programs.
The head of Youngstown Christian School was at a Statehouse rally Wednesday to urge lawmakers and Gov. John Kasich to increase support for school-choice efforts to allow even more families to move their children into private schools.
“I believe that the right to choose a quality education for our children is the last and possibly the most- important civil-rights issue we face today in our country,” Pecchia said. “For too long, the right to choose a quality education for our children has been available only to those with the means to pay the cost of private education or relocate to a better district. For too long, the educational choices in our inner-city public schools have been less than desirable for parents who want what every parent wants for their kids, a better life.”
Pecchia was one of more than 1,500 students, teachers, administrators and other supporters who braved heavy winds and a sudden deluge Wednesday to voice their support of school choice.
In particular, they urged passage of language included in the biennial budget being debated by lawmakers that would provide scholarships for low-income students and those attending failing schools to attend classes elsewhere.
“The income-based scholarship, which is included in the House budget, is an important step forward in providing hope and opportunity to thousands of families across Ohio who would otherwise not have a choice in their child’s education,” Jason Warner, legislative director for School Choice Ohio, said in a released statement.
Wednesday’s rally speakers included the Republican leaders of the Ohio Legislature and Gov. John Kasich. The latter said recent policy and law changes and ones proposed in the state budget would lead to “more school choice for Ohio.”
“We have gone from 14,000 vouchers for students who were in failing schools, to be able to get out of there, to 60,000, and that is a giant increase,” Kasich said. “We also are offering a choice to parents in public schools whose children are not learning in being able to pass the third-grade reading guarantee, and they will have some option to be able to go somewhere else.”