One in 6 districts have levies on the ballot today

November 4, 2025

Good Tuesday morning

It’s Election Day, 2025 and the stakes are high for 108 public school districts.

Those 108, representing more than one in every six school districts, are going to voters today with a levy request.

“Local school levies have always been part of the equation. Unfortunately, it seems like they’re gonna be a bigger part of the equation,” Ohio Education Association President Jeff Wensing told Morgan Trau, a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal.

Wensing pointed to data from Policy Matters Ohio that indicated anti-public school lawmakers and Gov. Mike DeWine slashed funding for public education by nearly $3 billion over the next two years.

Read Trau’s story here.

Trau writes about lawmakers attempting to shift the blame on rising property taxes to local school districts, but she misses a major reason 108 school districts have levies on the ballot today.

At the same time lawmakers cut spending to public schools, they increased the funding for EdChoice private school vouchers at unprecedented levels.

In the next two years, private schools, mostly religious, will receive $1.7 billion in tax dollars. There are no income limits on vouchers so families receiving them are wealthy and already had enrolled their children in private schools so this is a refund and a rebate program.

This is why we believe Vouchers Hurt Ohio and why we have sued the state, challenging the constitutionality of EdChoice private school vouchers.

In June, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page agreed with our lawsuit and ruled vouchers unconstitutional on three counts.

The second count is directly related to how EdChoice vouchers siphon precious tax dollars away from public schools. We maintain, and Judge Page agreed, that vouchers increase the dependence on local property taxes to pay for public schools.

Four times in the ‘90s, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled a public school funding formula that was overreliant on local property taxes is unconstitutional.

The money for EdChoice vouchers comes out of the same line-item in the budget that pays for public schools so a dollar more for vouchers is a dollar less available to pay for public schools.

More than 300 public school districts have joined us in our lawsuit. We believe every district has an obligation to stand up for their students, families, communities and taxpayers and sign on to Vouchers Hurt Ohio.

Is your district part of our historic lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn more here.

Happy Local Levy Day!

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio