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More on the Ohio choice program

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that the Ohio school choice program isn’t getting many nibbles:

Few public-school students have signed up for the state to pay their way to a private school this fall, and time is running out.

Although there are roughly 13,000 Franklin County students eligible to apply to attend private schools on the state’s dime, only 148 have so far.

Across Ohio, as many as 14,000 private-school vouchers could be offered. But as of yesterday, 561 students had signed up. The deadline to apply is June 9.

Allow us to fill in the gaps. In its first year of existence, the Milwaukee voucher program had 743 students. The D.C. program had around 1000. Same with Florida. But the Ohio program is expected to rival or exceed previous first-year efforts. No, it won’t be anywhere close to the cap, but as pointed out in the article, no program ever opens with every voucher being taken.

Furthermore, we’re getting reports that a lot of private schools are waiting until school wraps up this week or next to send in their applications. Expect a major rush on the program within the next seven to ten days, which should help fill out those projected numbers.

Also, it’s worth noting that, as pointed out in the article, it takes time for word to get around on the program. By calling it a “scholarship” program, many parents assume that only high-achieving students are eligible. That’s one of several reasons it takes three to four years for choice programs to really have a measurable impact.  And with the Ohio Department of Education not lending any real muscle to the marketing effort, it will be a pretty big deal if the program is able to achieve the expected applicant numbers.