The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has had strong ties to Central Ohio. Last week, the congressional investigation into Epstein’s associates came to New Albany.
Limited founder Les Wexner gave a deposition to the House Oversight Committee. He answered questions from members of the House Oversight Committee for about five hours about how much he knew about the sex offender and what role he may have played in Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.
Before the session began, Wexner submitted a long statement in which he said, “I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide.”
Wexner’s name appears in the Epstein files thousands of times. They had a long relationship. Epstein controlled Wexner’s money for years. Wexner says Epstein stole from him. During the deposition, Wexner maintained that his relationship with Epstein was just business.
Our panel of statehouse insiders this week includes reporters Jessie Balmert of the USA Today Ohio Network and Sarah Donaldson of Ohio Public Radio, Democratic strategist Stanley Gates, and Republican strategist Bob Clegg.
Snollygoster of the week
The state of Ohio pays the private school tuition of school kids who opt for private schools. Lawmakers over the years have widened the program, so now basically every family in Ohio can get assistance. The awards are income‑based to some degree.
Public school advocates strongly oppose the vouchers and say the money would be better spent improving public schools.
But now some shrewd school districts and parents have found a way to use a private school tuition tool to pay for all‑day kindergarten in public schools. Parents have to pay an extra fee for all‑day kindergarten in most districts.
To help parents pay those fees, and to pay for the programs, those districts are using a little‑known tax credit that rewards Ohioans who donate to private school scholarship funds. Those Ohioans get a dollar‑for‑dollar tax credit, which basically means they get their money back.
As Cleveland.com first reported, a small handful of districts have set up the private scholarship funds. Parents donate, the funds award scholarships to pay for all‑day kindergarten, and the parents get their money back in the form of a tax credit.
So the bottom line is that a state program designed to pay for private school tuition with tax dollars is also being used to pay for public all‑day kindergarten.