Few public-school students have signed up for the state to pay their way to a private school this fall, and time is running out.

Although there are roughly 13,000 Franklin County students eligible to apply to attend private schools on the state's dime, only 148 have so far.

Across Ohio, as many as 14,000 private-school vouchers could be offered. But as of yesterday, 561 students had signed up. The deadline to apply is June 9.

Families aren't learning about the new statewide voucher program quickly enough, some say. And parents complain that private-school application fees -- some charge hundreds of dollars -- are discouraging them. Students first must apply and be accepted to a private school, which then asks the state for a voucher on their behalf.

"The pace is picking up as we get closer," said Kim Murnieks, who runs the voucher program at the Ohio Department of Education. "It's still nowhere close to the 14,000 cap, but we didn't expect it to be anyway."

There are far more voucher-eligible students than there are available seats in private schools. At last count, 37 central Ohio private schools had signed up to accept vouchers, but many said they could admit only a handful of children.

Officials say they anticipated low enrollment in the first year of one of the only statewide private-school voucher programs in the country. Citywide voucher programs, including ones in Milwaukee, Washington and Cleveland, were slow to start. But Cleveland's, which began in 1995, quickly grew in popularity and now has a waiting list for students.

Parents and school-choice advocates say interest in the new program could be greater if more people knew about it and there were fewer barriers.

There hasn't been enough time to spread the word about vouchers and who can use them, said Susan Zanner, executive director of School Choice Ohio, a Columbus-based group that advocates for vouchers and charter schools.

The department and School Choice Ohio have held information fairs and sent mailings to voucher-eligible families. The department also has mailed postcards to every eligible family in the state.

Vouchers are worth $4,250 for grades K through 8 and $5,000 for high-school students.

"People just can't even believe this is available to them and wonder what strings might be attached," Zanner said.

To spread the word, the department and choice advocates needed at least a year, Zanner said. The statewide voucher system, called the Ohio EdChoice Scholarship Program, was created in February 2005 for students in schools labeled Academic Emergency, the same as an F in school ratings. Then two months ago, legislators decided to allow students in schools labeled Academic Watch (the same as a D) to apply, too.

That change brought the number of Franklin County schools with voucher-eligible children to 35 in Columbus Public Schools and one in South-Western City Schools.

Having students apply directly to the private schools has been a problem, too, said Tracie Craft, project manager for the Ohio chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. The group also supports school-choice issues.

Many private schools, she said, charge application fees.

"We're dealing with low-income families who can't afford a $150 application fee. One school has a $500 application fee," Craft said.

A small number of schools have allowed parents to set up a payment plan to cover the application fee; a few have waived it, she said.

Parents report other roadblocks.

Virginia Earnest, whose children will enter kindergarten and fifth grade this fall, wanted more information about a school that had signed up to accept vouchers. But when she called, she said no one understood what she wanted.

"I just kind of gave up. I got frustrated. I chose that school because it was closer to my home," Earnest said.

She said she's going to try again with another school. "If I don't get far this time, I probably won't continue."

Kandice Fuentes, who has three voucher-eligible children, had better luck. She enrolled her kids in Tree of Life.

"It was extremely easy, as long as you have the correct forms and application requirements. It was an answer to my prayers," Fuentes said.

Education officials hope parents talk up the program so interest will grow. And if it does, the voucher rules allow the department to hold a second enrollment period. It likely would be just before school starts, Murnieks said.

"The parents we've heard from are very excited about the opportunity and enthusiastic," she said. "But until the program has some history, some parents will be reluctant to take advantage of it."

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