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Good Tuesday morning,

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently asked and tried to answer the question: How well do private schools perform compared to public schools?

Their conclusion: “Parents debating whether to send their child to the local public school or private school may be baffled by the state’s system to compare academic performance.”

Read the story here.

A little ironic isn’t it? A program purportedly designed for parents and students and yet it is impossible for parents and students to use state data to determine whether their public school is better, worse or the same as a private school they are considering.

Ohio will spend nearly $1 billion on vouchers this year and there is no academic accountability for the money – on purpose.

There is zero financial accountability for the private school operators raking in millions and millions of our tax dollars.

The reporter for the Plain Dealer did her best, but she was frustrated by the apples and oranges system of public and private school testing.

This is purposeful.

The private school voucher scheme is not designed to help students go to better performing schools. It’s a ripoff of tax dollars to give wealthy families a refund or a rebate on their tuition, and it is a $1 billion boondoggle for private school operators.

It is also a way for religious schools to dip their hands into the state’s treasury. Remember, the vast majority of schools receiving voucher money are religious.

This is one reason there is not a hue and cry from private school parents for strong academic and financial accountability. They want public tax dollars to help pay to send their children to religious schools.

Funny thing is that is a violation of our Ohio Constitution and that’s why we are suing the state.

We will see the pro-voucher crowd in court on Nov. 4.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.

All across Ohio, public school students are returning to classes, teachers have their classrooms and lesson plans in order, and the state is prepared once again to siphon away hundreds of millions of tax dollars toward private school operators with an ever-growing universal voucher program.

In less than 80 days, those EdChoice private school vouchers are going to go on trial in Franklin County beginning on Monday, Nov. 4, one day before Election Day.

If you care deeply about public schools, we need your help and you can get involved quickly and easily.

We need to spread the word on social media about the harmful impact of private school vouchers.

Have you liked us on Facebook? Check here.

What about Instagram and Twitter? Please check here and here.

And please interact with our posts on all social media platforms.

Do you know public school supporters who would like to receive our weekly email. Send them this link and ask them to sign on.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.

It’s going to be an historic year for vouchers. You can keep up on everything that is happening by following us on social media and reading our weekly emails.

We know Vouchers Hurt Ohio and a recent spate of newspaper articles across the state underscore the devastating financial impact giving wealthy families a refund or rebate for tuition has upon our public schools, our public school children and the local taxpayers that support them.

In Columbus, the city school administrators are concerned that they do not have enough bus drivers to transport students to and from their school buildings.

From the Columbus Dispatch story here.

“Board Member Jennifer Adair said she wanted to remind the public that the district’s transportation operation is one of the “largest logistic operations in the country” and that the district is also required by law to bus charter and other nonpublic students, even outside of Franklin County. A spokesperson said the district will use transportation vendors to bus over 8,000 charter and nonpublic students for the upcoming school year.”

Columbus, like all public schools in Ohio, has been shortchanged in state support because pro-voucher lawmakers and Gov. Mike DeWine has acknowledged not fully funding the formula to pay for public schools.

At the same time, the voucher program is uncapped, meaning there is no limit to spending on the universal voucher program that even billionaires and millionaires are eligible to receive.

And remember the money for private school vouchers comes from the same line-item in the budget that pays for public schools so a dollar more for vouchers is a dollar less available for public schools.

The story is playing out everywhere. In Hilliard, local taxpayers are being asked to pass a levy to pay for school buildings and operations. Read the story here.

“We’ve been off the ballot for eight years, and the reality of the way the schools are funded in Ohio, basically our funding remains flat during that time, until voters approve an increase,” said Superintendent David Stewart.

Hilliard, like so many suburban schools in Ohio, has been hard hit by explosive growth in the number of vouchers in the district. But like so many suburban schools, Hilliard is not losing students to private schools. Families that already enrolled their children in private schools are taking advantage of a refund with a voucher and private school operators are raking in millions and millions of public tax dollars.

A story earlier this year indicated more than half of the levies on the March primary ballot failed in Ohio.

Residents, homeowners with and without children in public schools, are being ripped off by the voucher program.

The state is shifting the burden of paying for local schools back to homeowners while writing fat checks from the state treasury to private school operators. More than 90 percent are religious schools.

We believe this is unconstitutional.

We believe this is extremely harmful to our state, our local public schools that are open to all children, and to our communities.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.

We just wrapped up 10 days at the Ohio State Fair where volunteers and VHO steering committee members talked to hundreds of fairgoers about the harmful impact of private school vouchers on our public schools.

Take a look at this photo!!!!!

Remember that movie Jaws where Brody, played by Roy Scheider, catches a first glimpse of the shark and says, “you’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Well, a few days into the fair we took a look at our Public Teachers Heroes board, where visitors to the booth could put the name of their favorite public school teacher on a note, and realized we’re going to need another board.

Public school supporters filled two boards with notes and one child posted and then returned a few days after to check on his teacher’s name.

Ohioans love their local public schools. For good reason. They are the bedrock and the foundation of our communities.

Private school vouchers are a sledgehammer breaking apart that very foundation by ripping off taxpayers to give wealthy families a refund or a rebate for tuition and funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to private school operators who choose who gets in and who is shut out.

One system of schools for the haves, and another for the rest of us.

Well, we’re not taking it sitting down. Vouchers go on trial on Nov. 4 this year in Judge Jaiza Page’s courtroom in Franklin County.

The law and the Ohio Constitution matter in a court of law.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.

We’ll make this brief, but we are having a great time at the Ohio State Fair this year.

We are talking to hundreds of Ohioans about our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the harmful private school voucher program that is siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars from our precious public schools.

Visitors to our Vouchers Hurt Ohio booth in the Bricker Building are sharing stories about their favorite teachers, and posting the names of their favorite teachers on our heroes wall.

Here’s a photo of a couple of the hundreds of public school supporters who have stopped by.

The vast majority of Ohioans support their public schools.

They don’t like the harmful private school voucher program because they understand it is a refund and a rebate program for wealthy families who never had any intention of enrolling their children in public schools.

Ohioans also know this is a billion dollar boondoggle for private school operators with more than 90 percent of the schools being religious-based.

Public dollars belong in public schools.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.