Cincinnati Enquirer
State senator wants open-enrollment review
by Jessica Brown
Jun. 2, 2013

As The Enquirer reported in October, open enrollment policies are becoming more common. Of the 49 districts and four vocational districts in Southwest Ohio, 29 have open-enrollment policies compared to 19 in 2008. One of the vocational schools has open enrollment. Open enrollment is more common in Clermont, Butler and Warren Counties than in Hamilton County.

Just months after this region’s largest district, Cincinnati Public Schools, adopted an open-enrollment policy, one state senator is asking for a statewide review of the law.

Sen. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, has introduced a bill that would require a comprehensive study of open enrollment practices in Ohio. He cites a glaring lack of information about how open enrollment affects districts’ finances and academics.

“It started out as a pilot program and we don’t know much about it,” he said. “If we’re going to call it a pilot program, it ought to have an end point and some findings.”

Sawyer didn’t say whether he’s for or against the practice. Senate Bill 123 would call for the state law to be changed or ended in 2015 if the study finds either to be warranted. It’s unclear what would happen to students already enrolled through open-enrollment policies if that happens. The bill was introduced earlier this month. No votes or hearings have been held yet.

Sawyer doesn’t know how much a study might cost, but said the Legislative Services Commission previously quoted him a cost of $150,000.

Seven other senators – including the head of the Senate Education Committee, which the bill would have to clear to become law – are co-sponsoring the measure.

Open enrollment refers to the practice in which a school district lets out-of-district students enroll without charging tuition. The idea behind the 1989 law was to improve educational equity by addressing what advocates call the fundamental right of a parent: to send their child to a good school, regardless of income or ZIP code…

Read the rest of the article at the Cincinnati Enquirer