Another year, another $1 billion

July 7, 2026

Good Tuesday morning,

The state is on track, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, of spending $1.175 billion on vouchers for the school year that just ended on June 30.

EdChoice, the subject of our lawsuit, gets the bulk of the money because in 2023 pro-voucher, anti-public school lawmakers expanded the program by removing income limits.

Les Wexner, the billionaire, is eligible for a partial voucher in Ohio.

Laura Hancock at the Plain Dealer writes: “Before universal income eligibility, in the 2022-23 school year, the state spend $610.2 million to educate 80,026 students in the five voucher programs. It jumped more than $300 million the next year.”

What happened? Wealthy families who had their children already enrolled started getting a voucher for basically a refund or a rebate on their tuition.

Religious voucher schools raised their tuition to capture the voucher, charge the wealthy families a little less, and it was a win-win for everyone except the public school children, public schools and taxpayers.

You can read Laura’s story here.

It’s only going to grow unless we do something to stop it.

EdChoice private school vouchers were declared unconstitutional on three counts by Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page on June 24, 2025. The state and outside pro-voucher counsel appealed that decision to the 10th District Court of Appeals, where it is now under consideration.

We know this case will end up before the Ohio Supreme Court and we are confident we are going to win.

Is your district part of our historic lawsuit to protect public schools and your local taxpayers? Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio