Which cities in USA have free schools like cleveland?

amother

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Thu, Oct 17 2019, 10:52 am

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

I may be wrong, but I thought Cleveland was based on where you lived--that's what a friend told me who was looking to move there and we were in the process of moving and she told me "be careful which address you look for". We ended up in South Bend, IN where it's-state-wide. Here in South Bend there are different levels of tuition-assistance, while it is income-based, there are several funding sources, and what we are paying is mostly for our preschooler b/c they are not "mandated" for school yet, but there is a lot of subsidy by the big Jewish-family owned business and they heavily support the school and a lot of the community mosdos.

Can I email/pm you? I have some questions about South Bend and have been looking for someone to ask.

amother [ Ruby ] wrote:

just want to echo what others have said. its only free if you earn under a certain amount. how many children you have help determine that amount but the school has to eat the rest of the cost. If you want to move for more affordable tuition please come but please don't come with the plan that you won't have to ever pay tuition.

Where do you live?

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Oct 24 2019, 7:10 am

amother [ Bisque ] wrote:

This.

Basically: to participate in the voucher program, a school is required to accept the voucher as full tuition payment for families who fall under a certain income threshold. Families above the threshold can be required to pay more. You can qualify for a voucher through either income or geography, but qualifying for a voucher is separate from whether you qualify to be excused from paying anything above the voucher.

So in Cincinnati, full tuition is around $11K, and the voucher is a bit under $5K. My family qualifies geographically for vouchers, because the public school for which we are zoned is failing. However, our income is high, and therefore, we must pay the remaining $6K+ of the tuition for each child.

To clarify:
EdChoice Expansion (just for income -- this works only for current 6th graders and below, going up a grade each year) WILL absolve you from further tuition obligations because you ONLY qualify if you're at or below the 200% FPL. BUT a few caveats with this. If your income increases, you get the voucher on a sliding scale and can be charged the rest. Also, the program is harder to get on, and they don't always have a July application period (meaning April is the deadline). Additionally, there have been years that people technically qualify but there was not enough funding to guarantee that every applicant who qualified would receive. They had different algorithms (lower FPL, renewals, lottery)....

EdChoice (main scholarship program) is if you are placed in a failing public school. Additionally, if you prove successfully to the state that you're at or below 200% of the FPL, the school as to accept your voucher in full. But they can still charge fees, FYI. In frum schools, the cost of educating a child is way higher than the $4,650 the state gives for a K-8 student, so some schools are making sure there won't be additional community burden by accepting students moving in where the family has no means of parnassa.

Do keep in mind that one must be a resident by July 31st. Many newcomers moving in are not, and as such, schools cannot process those EdChoice applications. And they might not be eligible for future years (you need to be new to school in Ohio, though high school may be different based on a law change that was recently activated). All this is subject to change.

There are other requirements, like not having too many unexcused absences, etc.