Ohio Court Strikes Down School Voucher Program
From Forbes.com
Ohio is now one more state in which taxpayer-funded school vouchers have been struck down by a court. On June 24, Judge Jaiza Page of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted summary judgments against Ohio’s EdChoice program and for a coalition of over 100 public school districts and parents.
Ohio’s EdChoice program followed a common pattern in the establishment of taxpayer-funded school choice programs. It launched in 2005, with its budget limited and its use targeted to students in low-achieving schools, but it didn’t stop there.
Ohio’s earlier forays into taxpayer-funded vouchers had been challenged before, with Page particularly noting Simmons-Harris v. Goff, a challenge to a voucher program set up for Cleveland schools. The decision issued in May 1999 found that since the program was funded at such a low level that it could not affect the state’s ability to meet its constitutional obligation to fund public schools.
Additionally, the Goff decision involved a program that handed money directly to families, not to private religious schools.
EdChoice launched within those very specific restrictions in place. But the pattern for school choice programs is to start small, then keep expanding. In 2024, the program was expanded to cover all students. According to state government figures, Ohio’s taxpayer-funded voucher programs cost almost $1 billion in 2024, a massive increase over their original cost. The court found that changes in the program have carried it past constitutional lines.
The defendants appealed to Goff for support, particular against the charge that EdChoice created two separate school systems in Ohio, but Page did not see the decision their way.
Though the Defendants argue that Goff hinged on the fact that the school voucher program at issue did not actually create any schools, the Court disagrees with this interpretation. Goff recognized the history and value of private schools but cautioned that their success should not come at the expense of public education, nor should the state be allowed to finance a system of nonpublic schools.