CLEVELAND, Ohio - A new tuition voucher program that will be proposed soon for Ohio comes with an added twist - a way for parents to stash away some of those tax-funded tuition subsidies for books, tutoring or later tuition needs.
State Sen. Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, said his plan will include a provision to create "education savings accounts," an increasingly popular tool for backers of school choice in several states, that let parents keep any voucher money left over after paying the year's tuition at a private school.
Any leftover cash would go into state-managed accounts for use toward education needs, including tuition at a more expensive school between kindergarten and 12th grade or for a college in Ohio.
Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Nevada all have some version of education savings accounts, with Nevada making them available to any student attending private schools. Nevada's plan lost a legal challenge last year, but just over some budget details, not over its concept, which was upheld.
Another six states debated starting them last year, as well.
Huffman said he wants to allow these accounts to give parents incentive to shop around for the best value, as well as prevent schools from increasing tuition right to the voucher amount since they know parents will have access to that money.
Parents, he said, will pick equivalent schools with a lower cost since they could see benefits from that savings in the future.
"It's trying to get people to make good, market-driven decisions about their child's education," he said.
He agreed that the accounts would create added incentives for parents to use vouchers, but said that "nobody's going to get rich by sending their kids to private school with a voucher."
Exact details of the plan are not yet available, but Huffman explained the basics.
As we reported Friday, Huffman's plan would give families up $5,000 in state tax money to help pay tuition for students in kindergarten through eighth grade and $7,500 for high school students, depending on the family's income.
In some cases, like for K-8 students at St. Paul Lutheran School in Westlake, the voucher wouldn't cover the $6,400 a year tuition. Parents would have to pay the rest.
But the $5,000 voucher amount would more than cover the $2,850 tuition at St. Charles Borromeo School in Parma, for example, if your family is a member of that parish. It would also more than cover tuitions like the $4,134 charged at the Academy of St. Adalbert in Berea.
The excess would be even greater if you sent multiple children to the same school. Consider St. Benedict Catholic School in Garfield Heights which lowers its tuition from $3,750 for one student to $3,010 for a second child, $2,270 for the third child and $1,530 for the fourth.
With four children at that school, a family could receive $20,000 in tax dollars, with just $10,560 going to tuition and the rest going into the savings account.
In other cases, more modest savings would add up over several years.
Huffman said he does not believe parents will send students to certain schools just to build up money in the account. He said that would involve planning over several years and students might never even use savings if they find a public school that matches their needs or receive other scholarships or if they go to college out of state.
He also noted that high school tuitions are often well over the $7,500 the state would offer through vouchers. A year at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, for example, with its $15,530 tuition, would eat up savings quickly.
"You're just going to spend most of that at a private high school," Huffman said. "You're not really going to make money off it."
Huffman is officially announcing the plan Tuesday morning and will have a still-developing bill available shortly after. We'll have more detail on the proposal once the bill is available.
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