A $6 billion spending bill that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed on Friday expands a program assisting parents and guardians with supplemental education purchases.
The ACE Educational Savings Account program previously bestowed a $500 credit on families seeking to purchase enrichment materials or services to help their children get past the learning setbacks caused by the COVID-19 school shutdowns. The new legislation raises the credit to $1,000.
Participants use savings accounts funded by the program for such purchases as before- or after-school instructional services, educational day camps, home-schooling materials, tutoring, field trips, language classes and music lessons.
The Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, which has long supported broadening educational options for families beyond district schools, praised the governor and legislators for increasing the amount of money ACE participants will receive.
“In light of the historic learning loss suffered during the pandemic, the need to get parents and students education resources is critical,” Buckeye Institute research fellow Greg R. Lawson said in a statement. “Thanks to Ohio lawmakers, House Bill 45 included Buckeye Institute-inspired improvements to the Afterschool Child Enrichment (ACE) education savings account program to help families pay for vital education resources. By increasing the income-eligibility threshold for students and the amount in individual ACE accounts to $1,000, the reforms Governor DeWine signed into law will make it easier for families to access indispensable education resources.”
Research has confirmed much of the concern that lockdown skeptics raised when DeWine and other governors initiated lockdowns in 2020 that kept schools closed for many months to lessen the spread of the novel coronavirus. An Ohio State University study posited that student achievement dropped so significantly as to rob children of as much as a full year of mathematical learning as well as English language arts. A McKinsey & Company report similarly observed major learning loss and noted that high-school students have dropped out with greater frequency and become less likely to pursue postsecondary education.
Representatives Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) and Thomas West (D-Canton) sponsored the legislation containing the ACE expansion. The final version of the bill passed the state Senate unanimously and passed the House of Representatives 71 to 10. All of the opposing legislators were Republicans except for Cathy Ingram (D-Cincinnati).
The bill was initially drafted as a measure providing for a two-month local tax and fee amnesty during which residents can pay delinquent charges without attendant late penalties. During the legislative process, lawmakers added various spending items in addition to the ACE program including $350 million in Medicaid funds for nursing facilities and $100 million for rural hospitals.
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Bradley Vasoli is a reporter for The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Governor Mike DeWine. Background Photo “School Hallway” by elizabethaferry.
