10th District Court of Appeals Ruling – When Is It Coming

October 13, 2026

Good Tuesday morning,

It has been five months since three judges on the 10th District Court of Appeals held a hearing on our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the $1.7 billion EdChoice private school voucher scheme.

As we travel the state talking to Ohioans about why Vouchers Hurt Ohio, we are often asked when will the 10th District Court rule?

We don’t know, possibly sometime this year, or early next year, but we are confident we will win on more than one of the four counts before the court.

The state and intervenors – lawyers representing groups funded by out-of-state anti-public school millionaires and billionaires – appealed a decision by Judge Jaiza Page that found EdChoice vouchers unconstitutional on three counts:

Count 1: Lawmakers shall create a single system of common schools for the common good open to all children. Vouchers create a separate and unequal system of schools open only to those students admitted by private schools and, for the most part, whose families are wealthy and can afford to pay additional tuition.

Count 2: Lawmakers have failed to fund public schools at a constitutional level. Policy Matters Ohio reports lawmakers shortchanged public schools $3 billion in the current two-year state budget, and the state share of funding education has dropped from 49 percent in 1999 to 32 percent in the current school year. This shirking of responsibility often puts schools in a no win situation: make cuts or ask local homeowners to pass levies.

Count 3: The language in the Ohio Constitution could not be more clear: No religious sect or other sect shall ever have exclusive right to or control of any part of the school funds of the state. More than 90 percent of the private schools receiving the $1.7 billion are religious. Our constitutional delegates believed in the separation of church and state.

Why are we confident that we will win?

Well, to date, the pro-voucher crowd has been unable to muster an argument based on the language in the Ohio Constitution.

Why is that? Because they don’t have one.

There is nothing in the Ohio Constitution that permits lawmakers and the governor to take nearly $1 billion a year in tax dollars and give it to private, mostly religious, schools for mostly wealthy families. 

After the court hearing on May 12, Cleveland.com | The Plain Dealer summed up the defense’s lack of defense with this headline: Ohio’s School Voucher House of Cards is Collapsing in Court. The State’s Defense is Embarrassing!

They should be embarrassed.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio, students, parents, educators, homeowners, taxpayers, local public schools, and our communities.

Is your district part of our historic lawsuit? More and more local schools are signing on. Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio