Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

E-Schools: Ohio’s Baddest Apples

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With recent revelations that one of Ohio’s largest online charter schools (or “E-Schools”) – the Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA) – was apparently paid for students who should have been dis-enrolled for chronic absence, it is important to examine how Ohio’s E-Schools are a significant drain on the state’s education dollar and account for many of the problems that plague Ohio’s poor-performing charter schools. Four years ago, Innovation Ohio authored a look at Ohio’s E-Schools and found that the state was grossly overpaying these schools, while their operators provided huge campaign contributions to Ohio lawmakers. Since that time, while some E-Schools have seen slight performance improvements, the situation has gotten worse because now 10,000 more students attend and an additional $70 million are being spent on schools that, on average, graduate barely 35% of their students. Our latest report, published on KnowYourCharter.com by the Ohio Charter School Accountability Project, shows emphatically that Ohio’s E-Schools are a significant contributor to Ohio’s overall poor charter school performance.
  • More than half of the money going from better performing Ohio school districts to worse performing charters goes to 6 statewide E-Schools
  • 98% of all the children attending charters that performed worse than their feeder districts on all the state’s report card measures went to the same six statewide Ohio E-Schools – at a cost of $72 million
  • Local Ohio taxpayers have had to subsidize $104 million of the cost of Ohio E-Schools because students in E-Schools receive so much more per pupil funding from the state than would their local public school.
Several provisions in Senate Bill 148 – currently before the Ohio Senate – would address some of the most pressing accountability needs in the E-School sector. However, they do not address the most glaring need – the need to reform how the state pays for its E-Schools. Read the report: “E-Schools: Ohio’s Baddest Apples“

Review Finds Women Not Getting Coverage Required by ACA

Women may not be getting the health coverage they were guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report by by the National Women’s Law Center, and the Obama administration has warned carriers that the practice must stop. The April report outlined numerous violations by insurers in 15 states, including Ohio, which included excluding dependents from maternity care, limits on breastfeeding services and a failure to provide preventive services and contraception without co-pays or deductibles. birth_control Late last month, I joined a panel on Capitol Hill to discuss Innovation Ohio’s partnership with NWLC to address shortcomings in plans offered in Ohio in 2014. Our work led to multiple plans modifying their policies for 2015, but the report found that, despite our work, many violations of the law can still be found in policies sold on the Ohio exchange. The Ohio Department of Insurance, the state agency charged with reviewing and certifying plans for sale on the health exchange and that is headed by Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor, was notified of the violations but did not respond. tiles-300x193 The report was covered by the New York Times, National Public Radio and the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Following the report’s release, the Obama administration has issued new guidance to insurance carriers that they must cover all FDA-approved forms of contraception without co-pays or deductibles and provide other preventive services to women without cost-sharing. A report on the coverage of women’s health services by Ohio insurers, including the results of a second review of plans offered in 2015, will be released in the coming weeks.  

IO Analysis: The Benefits of Paid Parental Leave

paidleave The United States falls behind the rest of the world in providing workers with guaranteed paid parental leave. Only 13% of U.S. workers enjoy paid family leave benefits, and the number is much lower — 4% — among low-wage workers. Workers without access to paid leave are more likely to leave the workforce, stay out of work far longer, in many case relying on public assistance, costing taxpayers and the local economy all while reducing family economic security. In Ohio, women make up nearly half of the state’s labor force. Paid parental leave policies are a critical way to keep our workforce and local economy strong. Our latest research looks at the state of paid parental leave and the many benefits it can offer.

Research Highlights

Paid parental leave policies have many benefits for women, families, employers and society as a whole. Among them include:
Strengthens Women and Families
  • The majority of young children depend on the income of working mothers, who are increasingly likely to be sole or primary breadwinners in their families. Paid maternity and paternity leave policies preserve income and increase health outcomes for women and their dependent children.
Reduces Gender and Economic Disparities
  • When taking leave without pay is the only option for a new parent, unmarried, nonwhite and less educated parents are the least likely to make use of this benefit. This relatively low level of leave-taking by less advantaged workers can create health and economic disparities for parents and children.
Improves Critical Health Outcomes
  • Longer leaves that result from the availability of paid time off have been shown to improve the health prospects of women and their babies. Rates of infant mortality, immunization and breastfeeding have all been seen to improve when women have access to paid leave during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Positive Impacts on the Local Economy
  • Paid leave policies for mothers and fathers increase the level of women’s employment and participation in the regional workforce, and contribute to higher levels of employment rates and wages for mothers in the years following childbirth. And by preserving family income, these policies also reduce demand for public assistance and social services.
A Stronger, More Productive Workforce
  • Paid leave policies have numerous benefits for local employers by improving employee retention, job satisfaction, and productivity and helping employers compete for top talent.
Read the report: “IO Analysis – The Benefits of paid parental leave for women, families, employers and local communities”

Budget Briefing: Proposed House Changes

middleclass The Ohio House Finance Committee proposed a major overhaul of Gov. Kasich’s two-year budget that preserves tax cuts for those at the top without a way to pay for them and includes new threats to labor, the poor and local communities. Key Points:
  • SB5 Revisited? Several provisions limit workers’ rights to collectively bargain and punish workers who seek that right.
  • In: Tax cut that favors those at the top. Out: Tax relief for working- and middle-class families.
  • Mixed Bag for Schools: Adds funding for school districts, but expands voucher programs that sends public funding to private schools.
  • Targets the Poor: Opens the door to stiffer work requirements for public assistance, regardless of whether work is available.
  • Impacts Communities: Phases out vital revenue for communities, punishes cities over traffic cameras and privatizes county jails.
Download our briefings on House changes to the Kasich budget.

Budget Briefing: Local Impacts

Lancaster_Ohio_Main_Street_sm After four years of deep funding cuts – estimated at over $1.5 billion over four years – Ohio’s local communities see little relief in Governor Kasich’s proposed 2016-2017 budget. Key Points:
  • Sweeping tax reform proposed in the budget would affect local tax collections and services supported by sales tax levies.
  • A small portion of new revenue from increased severance taxes on oil and gas drilling is set aside for communities impacted by fracking.
  • The proposal reduces – and in many cases eliminates – reimbursements from the state to communities for revenue lost after state tax reform.
  • Local transit funding remains well below prior levels and the recommendations of an ODOT analysis.
Bottom Line: After four years of cuts, the modest increase in funding for local communities included in the budget depends on passage of Kasich’s controversial tax reform plan. If it fails, a small gain could turn into an additional loss of revenue for Ohio’s cities, towns, villages and counties. Download our briefing on local impacts of the Kasich budget.

IO Analysis: The School Funding Squeeze

Screen Shot 2015-03-04 at 3.39.59 PM Today, IO education policy fellow Stephen Dyer will be testifying before the House Finance Subcommittee to discuss Innovation Ohio’s latest analysis: The school funding squeeze. In this analysis we examine how over ten years of income tax cuts and funding increases for charter schools have squeezed valuable public education dollars in Ohio. Here are just a few of the key points:
1. Over the last ten years, Ohio has been investing up to $3 billion annually in tax cuts for the rich instead of high-quality schools for our students. 2. Since 2011, state aid has dropped below 50 percent with local revenue now paying for the majority share of the public education funding mix. 3. When factoring in lost revenue to charter schools, education spending as a share of the budget drops to a historic low of 23 percent. 4. In the 2016-17 budget proposal, the percentage of local school districts that face funding cuts jumps from 51 to 67 percent when subtracting the revenue that goes to charter schools. 5. In too many cases, state funding to charter schools reduces the amount of the total per-pupil funding available to students in local public schools, even with their local revenue.
Read the full analysis: IO Analysis – The School Funding Squeeze 3-5-15

State of the State in Wilmington

Research Overview
Gov. John Kasich has made Wilmington the site of his fifth State of the State address and has described Wilmington’s story of economic recovery as Ohio’s story of economic recovery. While unemployment in Wilmington has dropped, it is important to look more closely at the local economic picture and how recent state policies have impacted this quintessential Ohio community. 5-Key-Points Read the full analysis: A Closer Look at How State Policies are Impacting Wilmington

Budget Briefing: Proposals Impacting Women

Governor Kasich’s 2-year budget contains a number of policies that could impact Ohio women. The good: the budget contains additional funding for child care, preschool and maternal health and funds training for public colleges and universities to deal with sexual assaults. The bad: the budget makes low-income women pay more for Medicaid coverage, forces many women who become pregnant or are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer to shop for insurance in the private market, and threatens the employment of thousands of women employed as independent home health care providers. And the proposed tax changes benefit the wealthy while raising taxes on the lowest-income Ohioans, the majority of whom are women. View our latest budget briefing to see some of the ways Kasich’s proposals could impact the women of Ohio.

Budget Briefing: Funding Impacts of Charter Schools

With a very modest net increase in school funding overall, just 301 school districts — fewer than half —  are expected to see an increase in Gov. John Kasich’s proposed state budget. However, when factoring in the cost of charter schools on local school districts, one in three of those districts will see their proposed funding increases erased. In our latest budget briefing, we break down the impacts of charter school funding on each district and show that even fewer school districts then were originally suggested will see funding increases as result of Gov. Kasich’s education funding plan. Download the briefing and district-by-district table to see what the impacts are to your local school district:

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