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This year, ACS turns 20! We’re celebrating with a game of “20 Questions,” featuring some of the people who’ve inspired us the most during our two decades in business.

Featured Guest: May 2024

Marcia Egbert, Program Director, Thriving Families and Social Justice, George Gund Foundation

Why we love Marcia:
Marcia is a thought partner and a mentor with a passion for social justice and fairness that never ceases to inspire. She understands the commitment and patience necessary to create deep and meaningful policy change that creates lasting positive impacts for families and children in Ohio and continues to strategically influence the policy sphere with optimism, creativity, and unflagging determination.

Marcia’s featured answers:
What’s one public policy you’d change?
Fully reinstate and make permanent the Covid pandemic’s enhanced federal Child Tax Credit that instantly lifted more than half of poor children in America out of poverty.
Rock, rap, or country?
Gonna go straight to rock of the 3; if you’d thrown in jazz and opera you’d have my top 3.

See Marcia’s answers to all our 20th Anniversary “20 Questions” here!!

The impact of the pandemic on education is undeniable, but what’s truly concerning is the lingering effects on student attendance. Chronic absenteeism has surged, with numbers remaining stubbornly high despite the return to in-person learning. In the article A Crisis of School Absences from The New York Times, author Sarah Mervosh highlights the concerning trend of increased chronic absenteeism among U.S. students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite expectations of a return to normalcy, the rates of absenteeism have remained high across demographic groups. Interviews with educators, researchers, and parents reveal various reasons for this trend, including illness, mental health issues, and changes in the perceived value of education.

As childcare costs rise, it becomes even more important to support workers to keep them in the workforce. Although only 12% of US workers currently have access to childcare benefits, they’ve been proven to generate between $0.90 and $4.25 in extra earnings for employers for every $1 spent, by reducing absenteeism and retaining employees. A recent study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Moms First shows that offering childcare benefits to employees can bring significant financial benefits to companies, with examples from companies like UPS, Etsy, Steamboat, and Fast Retailing demonstrating how benefits such as on-site and backup childcare stipends improve employee satisfaction and productivity.

The number of students receiving state-funded scholarships for private schools has surged after Ohio lawmakers expanded the EdChoice-Expansion voucher program by effectively eliminating eligibility requirements related to annual income. The data reflects, however, that most of these students have never attended a public school, undermining the claim—made by some—of a “public school exodus.”

This means that many voucher student families who were already paying for and attending nonpublic schools are now using taxpayer dollars to supplant their existing tuition payments; some of these families can afford tuition and/or are from communities that are not historically disadvantaged.

This Cleveland.com article examines how the increase in students is attributed to the removal of income eligibility caps (promoting the use of public dollars for families who can otherwise afford tuition) and looks at concerns over the long-term sustainability of funding dual public and private school systems, and its potential impact on public education. Read even more about the continued expansion of school vouchers in ACS’ winter newsletter, What to Watch 2024, Part 2 – Democracy at a Crossroads: Navigating Threats and Charting the Course for the Future.

In Ohio, the upcoming 2024 elections—including the presidential race, U.S. Senate race, and other key contests—have contributed to heightened interest amongst the state’s young voters. Voter registration in Ohio has surged, with more than 48,600 18-year-olds registered as of January 6, 2024. But despite this progress, more than 100,000 18-year-olds remain unregistered. Read this article by the Ohio Capital Journal to learn more about the efforts underway to promote voter engagement and registration initiatives with Ohio’s youth.

The United States, and many other places around the world, has experienced challenges to its Democratic Values of Liberty, Equality, and Justice. But Poland portrays a different story, where voters — especially young voters —  have rebelled against a punishing religious nationalism at the polls to demand the restoration of their rights. This piece from the New York Times discusses the similarities Poland and the U. S. have faced and, given Poland’s recent political development, Democratic Values are resilient and can hold their ground. In What to Watch 2024 – Part 2, ACS breaks down how despite the threat of destabilization, democracies can adjust and respond accordingly.