We, the undersigned education and civil rights organizations, appreciate the opportunity to comment on Ohio’s proposed waiver from requirements and amendments to its state plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

While we support efforts to provide local education agencies (LEAs) with greater flexibility in how they use federal funds, we have serious concerns about Ohio’s proposal to consolidate state-level federal funding and to reshape guardrails around how funds reach student populations. In its current form, the waiver risks weakening long-standing federal protections that ensure resources reach students they are intended to support.

We support Ohio’s plan to add a College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness (CCWMR) measure to its accountability system, and we commend Ohio’s continued commitment to considering the performance of student groups in school ratings. However, we are concerned about changes to the weighting of English Language Progress (ELP), particularly in the context of Ohio’s waiver request.

Local Funding Flexibility

We appreciate Ohio’s effort to expand local flexibility within ESSA programs to support more responsive use of federal funds. Several proposed changes could empower districts to align resources with local priorities and improve the efficiency and impact of federal investments. For example, expanding Title I-A carryover provisions could allow LEAs to plan for large, one-time investments that benefit students over time. Similarly, flexibilities for Title IV-A funds give districts more latitude in how they support students’ holistic needs and technology infrastructure.

However, it’s important to ensure that flexibility does not reduce access to services for the students these programs are designed to support. We are concerned that expanding the schools eligible to receive Title I-A funds could reduce funding for schools with the highest proportion of students from low-income families, contrary to the intent of federal law. Preserving Title I-A’s ability to direct meaningful support to the highest-needs schools is critical to improving outcomes in Ohio’s poorest communities.

We encourage the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to pair expanded flexibility with reporting on how LEAs are allocating funds across schools and closely monitor whether these changes affect opportunity gaps.

State Funding Flexibility

Ohio’s proposal to consolidate state funds across multiple programs into a single stream raises significant concerns about program integrity, transparency, and student impact.

The waiver would combine funding from Title II, Title III, Title IV-A and B into one state-level pool. These programs were designed by Congress for distinct purposes and student populations. Consolidating these funds would remove program guardrails that ensure each serves its intended purpose.

We are particularly concerned about the consolidation of Title III funds for English learners (ELs). Ohio schools serve over 80,000 ELs — a population that has doubled over the past two decades. Yet outcomes for these students continue to lag significantly behind those of their peers: according to the state report card, just 39% of ELs are proficient in English language arts (ELA), compared to 60% of all students. These alarming gaps have widened, and diluting funding specifically dedicated to ELs will only further undermine progress at a time when sustained, targeted investment is clearly needed.

We strongly urge DEW to preserve Title III funding and maintain program guardrails that ensure ELs receive the services necessary to support both language development and academic achievement.

College and Career Readiness (CCR)

Ohio’s proposed CCWMR measure is a welcome addition to the state’s accountability system. Over 75% of states already have a similar measure, recognizing the important role high schools play in preparing students for their next steps. Strong CCR measures incentivize schools to support students through high-quality pathways that lead to fulfilling careers with a living wage by focusing on rigorous outcomes that are correlated with long-term success.

Ohio’s proposed outcomes are generally strong, but fails to define what it means for a student to be military ready. Additionally, schools can earn the same amount of credit for students completing very different levels of preparation (military readiness, 250 hours of work-based learning, and 12 college credits are all given the same weight). This could enable students to be considered “ready” despite varying levels of preparedness, which may result in students of color, students from low-income families, or students with disabilities being disproportionately steered toward less rigorous pathways.

We urge DEW to rigorously define military readiness — including both enlistment criteria and a minimum exam score — and to conduct research that ties metrics to long-term student outcomes, and then tiers them based on those findings.

Additionally, Ohio should disaggregate their CCWMR data for each indicator in the index, rather than a single overall figure, to ensure that students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities are not disproportionately placed in lower-level pathways.

Closing the Gap

We commend Ohio for its commitment to including the performance of individual student groups in its assessment of school quality. While the proposed changes slightly reduce the weight of this measure to incorporate CCWMR, it retains a substantial weight for group performance. This measure ensures that schools are held accountable for meeting the needs of all students, including those long underserved by our education system.

ELP Measure

We have serious concerns about Ohio’s proposed change to the weight of ELP in the state’s accountability system, dropping from 30 points to just five. It’s essential that multilingual students receive the support they need to move toward language proficiency. This support enables students to better access content in other classes and meet state academic expectations alongside their peers. The reduced weight of ELP risks limiting schools’ incentive to support the needs of multilingual learners, as lower outcomes would have a smaller impact on a school’s overall score.

This is particularly concerning in the context of the proposed funding flexibility waiver that could limit multilingual learners’ access to services and supports. At the same time, funding designed to support ELs could be redirected to other state priorities schools would be less accountable for meeting their needs.

We strongly urge Ohio to maintain a substantial weight for ELP in its accountability system.

Ohio’s waiver request includes a mix of local and state-level changes to how federal funds are administered. While certain flexibilities could support more responsive local decision-making, the proposed consolidation of state funding raises serious concerns about the erosion of guardrails that ensure federal dollars reach students most in need. In particular, these changes risk shifting resources away from ELs, who already face pervasive gaps in achievement.

We urge you to eliminate the planned changes that would weaken support for ELs — state funding changes to Title III and reducing the weight of ELP in accountability. These safeguards should be maintained to ensure that federal investments continue to reach the students who are furthest from opportunity.

Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.
Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools
All4Ed
The Center for Black Educator Development
Columbus Education Justice Coalition
EdTrust
Erase the Space
Honesty for Ohio Education
LULAC Ohio
Medina Mavens
Miami Valley Immigration Coalition
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National Parents Union
Ohio Equal Rights
Ohio Federation of Teachers
Ohio School Psychologists Association
OPAWL
Public School Strong
UnidosUS