West Hamilton News

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci is advocating for a so-called “backpack choice” bill that would allow for funding to follow students wherever they are educated.

Renacci, who is facing incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine in the May 3 GOP primary, said the bill will allow for a taxpayer-funded scholarship to follow students to non-public schools.

“I commend the [Ohio] legislature for introducing legislation to advance the discussion of school choice legislation,” Renacci said in a news release. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ program when it comes to educating our children. Especially now in America’s ‘woke climate,' polluted by dangerous fallacies like critical race theory, parents in Ohio should have an option to find alternatives to educate their kids if they see fit.”

Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro told WOUB in August that he wasn't aware of any public schools in the state teaching critical race theory.

Parents in Ohio have become increasingly outspoken on questionable coursework in the state’s public schools, Renacci argued, and he called out DeWine over his reluctance to support the bill.

“I’ve said for years that state money that goes to a public school should follow the student should they go to private or parochial school,” Renacci said in the release. “This is just common sense and critically important legislation for Ohio families. Mike DeWine has made clear that he won’t act—but as governor, this will be a top priority in our administration.”

The Backpack Choice Bill would take effect in the 2023-24 school year.

The legislation is being considered amid plummeting academic outcomes in public schools and a mass of withdrawals from public institutions. Subsequently private schools have seen a jump in admissions.

Ohio was one of the states to leave the National Association of School Boards after the national organization called on the FBI to investigate activist parents examining critical race theory and other aspects of public education aligning with leftist sentiment.

Renacci, 63, is an accountant and entrepreneur who once owned the Columbus Destroyers in the Arena Football League. He won election to U.S. Congress in 2010 as part of the Tea Party movement, and later endorsed Donald Trump over then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the 2016 GOP primary for president.

DeWine, 74, was Kasich's choice to replace him as Ohio governor in 2019. He is one of the longest-serving public officials in state history, having held elected office for 41 years. That includes stints in the Ohio Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and as Ohio attorney general and Ohio lieutenant governor.