Think tank calls on Ohio to improve transportation for school choice students 

An education think tank is urging Ohio lawmakers to strengthen transportation rules for students attending charter and private schools through the state’s expanding school choice programs.

Ohio law has required school districts for decades to provide transportation for resident K-8 students, including those attending charter or private schools. The policy allows families to choose schools that fit their children without diminishing access to school buses.

“For over a half century, Ohio has sought to ensure that every student who needs a ride to and from school gets one – no matter their school of choice,” says the report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

State law generally requires districts to transport resident K-8 students unless the child lives within two miles of the school or if the trip would take more than 30 minutes. Supporters say the policy helps working families who rely on buses to get children to school each day while allowing one bus to serve an entire neighborhood.

But the report argues some districts have increasingly avoided those responsibilities.

“Unfortunately, some districts are making transportation a headache for families choosing public charter and private schools,” Fordham says.

Ohio’s school choice landscape has expanded significantly in recent years. Families can now choose charter schools and voucher programs that allow students to attend private schools with public funding.

The EdChoice scholarship program provides $6,166 for K-8 students and $8,408 for high school students to attend participating private schools.

Growth in these programs has increased attention on transportation policies.

The report highlights Columbus City Schools as a major example. District officials have relied on an “impractical to transport” provision in state law to deny bus service to some charter and private school students.

“Columbus City Schools is the most egregious example,” the report says.

The analysis says the state denied bus service to roughly 23,000 charter and private school students from 342 districts last year. Districts refused transportation for only about 600 students attending district-run schools.

Lawmakers established a transportation workgroup last year to study the issue and recommend reforms. The group is expected to release its findings later this year.

The think tank recommends several policy changes. Lawmakers could tighten the “impractical to transport” loophole, increase payments to families when districts refuse bus service and require districts with severe absenteeism to offer transportation for high school students.

The report also recommends shifting transportation responsibilities away from districts that repeatedly fail to meet state requirements.

Fordham says Ohio should maintain the longstanding expectation for districts to transport resident students.

“This longstanding law has served millions of Ohio families and students,” the report says. “But it’s being undermined by school officials who seem to want to make life hard for private and charter school families.”