We’re 2-0 – EdChoice Vouchers Unconstitutional

October 20, 2026

Good Tuesday morning,

Last Thursday, we made history in Ohio when the 10th District Court of Appeals unanimously ruled the $1 billion a year EdChoice private school voucher system is unconstitutional – again.

We’re 2-0 in the courts. The 10th District upheld Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page’s June 2025 ruling that found EdChoice unconstitutional.

The 10th District ruled EdChoice is unconstitutional on two counts, and in a very interesting decision, the judges did not rule on two other counts before them.

You can and should read it here.

Judge Leland eviscerates the paltry defense mounted by Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s office (why tax dollars are being used to defend an unconstitutional system that takes tax dollars away from public schools is beyond us), and the well-heeled pro-voucher out-of-state attorneys who magically appear in any state where vouchers are challenged.

Here is what Appellate Judge David Leland, who wrote the opinion, and the 10th District said and didn’t say about our five original counts of unconstitutionality:

On Count 1, we maintain the Ohio Constitution is clear that the legislature shall secure a single system of common schools for the common good that is open to all children in the state. 

EdChoice private school vouchers create a separate and unequal system of uncommon schools open to a select few. The vast majority of these families are wealthy and their children were already enrolled in private schools so EdChoice is a refund or rebate program. One reporter last week called the EdChoice voucher a “coupon” for the rich.

The 10th District agreed with us, and Judge Page, on Count 1: Unconstitutional.

Judge Leland stated: “Given these facts, as applied to the meaning of the word “secure” as it was used in the 1850s, we conclude that EdChoice, as presently structured, secures a separate system of non-public schools contrary to the mandates of Ohio Const. art. VI, § 2. “

“Aside from the fact that EdChoice schools are not public schools, there are three ways in which they are uncommon: (1) EdChoice schools, not parents, choose which students to admit, (2) EdChoice schools are geographically isolated in the urban counties of the state, and (3) EdChoice schools are not subject to any meaningful state oversight,” Judge Leland wrote.

On Count 2, we maintain EdChoice private school vouchers divert tax dollars away from public schools. Pro-voucher lawmakers like House Speaker Matt Huffman have abandoned the idea of funding public schools at a constitutional level. Huffman calls the Cupp Patterson Fair School Funding Plan a “fantasy,” and ‘unsustainable,” and passed a budget that shortchanged public schools by $2.75 billion.

Judge Leland wrote the EdChoice private school voucher system impacts public schools in three ways: the state is prioritizing EdChoice funding while underfunding public schools, EdChoice private schools cherry-pick students from public schools, and EdChoice has a negative impact on the passage of local school levies. 

“These combined effects undermine the General Assembly’s constitutional obligation to secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state. That the state is still funding public schools while also funding EdChoice does not cure the constitutional violation, especially at the breadth and scope of funding that EdChoice receives. EdChoice, as presently structured and funded, crosses the constitutional threshold by using state tax dollars to draw students and resources away from the public schools in order to sustain a separate system of participating non-public schools, leaving the public schools to bear obligations and financial hardships that private schools do not share. As such, the EdChoice program operates to deprive students of the thorough and efficient system of common schools mandated by Ohio Const. art. VI, § 2,” Judge Leland wrote.

The Supreme Court of Ohio in Goff foretold the possibility that someday a greatly expanded voucher program could create a competing system of uncommon schools. Today is that day,” Judge Leland wrote.

Wow. 

Now, the 10th District set aside two counts, and that may have a big impact on the constitutionality of EdChoice vouchers down the line, but this is enough for one day.

Next week, we’ll talk about those two counts, and a third count that Judge Page did not rule on in the lower courts.

If your school district is part of this historic lawsuit, thank you for standing up for students, parents, educators and taxpayers. Yes, taxpayers. Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio