Policy Priorities
Ohio Excels actively works to shape policy, backed by data and best practices, that can improve educational outcomes for all students.
Ohio’s future and the future success of our students, families, and communities is determined by the knowledge and skills of our citizens.
We know that improving the quality of education – from early childhood through higher education – provides students a better chance to succeed in a changing economy and will ultimately help Ohio businesses grow and innovate, giving Ohio a competitive advantage in the world marketplace.
Expand Access to Childcare
Child Care Eligibility & Support: Increase the income threshold for publicly-funded support from 145% to 200% of the federal poverty level to allow more children from low-income families to access high-quality early childhood education, giving students a strong start for learning and allowing parents to join the workforce. Ensure that the amount that the state pays early childhood education programs for publicly-funded slots is at least 50% of the market rate for child care services across the state.
Strengthen Foundational Skills in Reading & Math
Literacy Coaches: Continue funding up to 100 literacy coaches to support educators implementing the science of reading in schools and districts with the lowest reading proficiency rates.
Math Licensure Exam: Require new teacher candidates to reach a minimum score on the math content section of the state’s licensure exam to ensure they fully understand math content before they can provide math instruction.
Algebra Enrollment: If students are scoring Accomplished or Advanced on math state tests, schools should be required to enroll them in Algebra I by 8th grade unless their parents opt them out. Currently, not all capable students are given the opportunity to have a head start on high school math, preventing them from accessing higher-level math required for certain professions.
Improve the Effectiveness & Equity of School Funding
Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid: Replace the current method for funding economically disadvantaged students with a simplified and targeted formula based on directly-certified income data to ensure the funding goes to the students who need it the most.
Charter Funding Equity: Increase the funding equity supplement for charter schools from $650 to $1,000 per student and codify the high-quality charter school support funding in order to to narrow the public funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools and districts.
Prepare Students for Success Through Career-Connected Learning
Middle School Career Exploration: Ensure all students receive structured career exploration by requiring instruction in middle school covering Ohio’s career fields, academic and technical requirements for in-demand jobs, interest and aptitude assessments, comprehensive career coaching, and career planning.
Career-Technical Education Waiver: Remove the waiver that allows schools to bypass offering career-technical education coursework in 7th and 8th grades, ensuring many more students have greater access to CTE pathways beginning in middle school.
Internship Wage Reimbursement: Expand incentive funding for employers to engage with schools in work-based learning by repurposing unused internship tax credit funding for wage reimbursements, giving more high school students opportunities for paid internships.
In-Demand Credentials: Replace the current point system for industry-recognized credentials with a three-tiered system that is better aligned and provides more transparency to students about the workforce value of the credential.
Workforce Data: Create a high-level data governance structure to increase the state’s capacity to securely access and use linked education and workforce data for research and decision making.
Readiness Measure: Assign a star rating to the existing readiness measure on the K-12 report card that uses academic and career-oriented factors to evaluate how well schools prepare students for success beyond high school.
Maintain Financial Aid Investments & Begin Funding Workforce Outcomes
Financial Aid: Continue funding the state’s investments in students through the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, the Ohio Work Ready Grant, Talent Ready, and TechCred so that finances are less of a barrier for Ohioans seeking education and training.
Workforce Outcomes: Include student workforce outcomes as part of the higher education performance-based funding system for any new increases in the State Share of Instruction (SSI) to shift incentives for colleges and universities to prioritize their students future employment when making programmatic decisions.
Direct Admissions Pilot: Establish a pilot program to automatically notify high school seniors if they meet the academic admissions requirements of Ohio colleges and universities to show students that college is an option for them and to reduce the paperwork needed to get in for families and students.