West High Students Eligible For Vouchers After New Report Cards

The lowering of state report card scores for some Columbus schools could be good news for students in at least one Columbus school. The Ohio Department of Education says a recent recalculation of some school ratings changes the eligibility list for a program that provides vouchers for private schools to students at consistently underperforming public schools. The state revised some district and school ratings after an investigation into "scrubbing" of attendance data. The department says those recalculations mean eligibility for the EdChoice Scholarship program is extended to students at three more schools for 2014-2015. They are Milkovich Middle School in the Maple Heights district, West High School in Columbus and Rimer Community Learning Center in Akron. The department also says Larkmoor Elementary School in Lorain was removed from the eligibility list. Students there who already applied and got scholarships will keep their funding. The EdChoice application deadline has been extended to Sept. 5.