The Schwartzberg Family of Ohio
Eric and Kricket, and their three children—participate
in the state of Ohio’s EdChoice program, which
provides public funds for families in areas with
underperforming public schools to send their children
to private schools.
The Schwartzberg family—Eric, Kricket, and their three children—participate in the state of Ohio’s EdChoice program, which provides public funds for families in areas with underperforming public schools to send their children to private schools. The Schwartzbergs are strong supporters of the state’s voucher program. Both Eric and Kricket had attended public schools and were initially supportive of the secular education they received. Yet when they settled in Cincinnati and began to research education choices for their son Ely, they found the public schools lacking.
“Pleasant Ridge Elementary School [the local public elementary school] was under academic watch, the next-to-lowest rating on the state’s six-tiered report card. When I started researching the schools, they were only meeting one of fourteen state criteria,” Kricket said. “Today, they are in academic emergency. They still meet only one of nineteen state criteria. The literacy rate for an eighth grader is less than 50 percent. That did not seem right to me. So we put Ely in the Cincinnati Hebrew Day School and prayed for the best.”
Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (CHDS) features a dual curriculum designed to emphasize academic achievement, strong moral character, and a commitment to Jewish identity and religious observance. Kricket notes that EdChoice has been important to their family, providing them with the money they need for their children to attend CHDS.
The voucher they receive from the state for CHDS is worth $4,250 and is applied to tuition charges of $7,735. State and local tax dollars provide more than $12,000 per year to the public school system for each student. “The government is still saving more than $8,000 off my child,” Kricket notes. “At half the price, we are producing a student who can and will contribute to society. It seems like a no-brainer. I’d hate to see them end the voucher.”
The Schwartzbergs are very pleased with EdChoice and CHDS. Their current educational situation is more in tune with their overall educational, social, and family values. “We want to stay in Ohio, we want to stay in Cincinnati, we want to give our children—all three of them—the best possible education that the schools can provide,” says Eric, “and the public schools cannot do that at this time.
