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Senate President Matt Huffman, with the help of Americans For Prosperity, is going to be House Speaker Matt Huffman beginning in January, 2025.

Huffman will undoubtedly serve four two-year terms from 2025 to 2033 as Speaker because he understands as well as anyone how to manipulate the levers of government in his favor.

Huffman is not only a champion for private school vouchers. He has taken the extraordinary step of funneling public tax dollars into private school construction and repair.

Voters don’t like vouchers. Voters don’t like their tax dollars going to private, most often, religious schools for brick and mortar buildings.

The majority of voters would like to see their tax dollars invested in their local public schools.

Huffman doesn’t listen to voters. Not now. Not in the foreseeable future.

He told the Columbus Dispatch at the Statehouse: “We can kind of do what we want.”

And he does.

We know we do not stand a chance in the legislature. We know the governor for the next two years, at least, will go along with Huffman on expanding universal vouchers.

So we are suing. We are challenging the constitutionality of the private school voucher program, known as EdChoice, on five counts, and each count has been accepted for trial by Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page.

Vouchers will go on trial in 2025.

The Ohio Constitution is clear on this issue.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

We have built a strong and growing coalition of school districts as we challenge the constitutionality of private school vouchers in Ohio – urban, rural and yes, suburban.

Recently, the Canfield Board of Education in Mahoning County announced they are considering joining the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit. Read about it here.

“I believe Canfield should join the lawsuit,” said Canfield Board President Nader Atway. “After all, we are advocates for public education,” reported the Vindicator.

Atway told the Vindicator that 90 percent of Ohio’s public school students receive 75 percent of the state’s funding, while 10 percent of Ohio’s students attend private schools and receive 25 percent of the state’s funding.

Canfield would be the latest suburban school district to join VHO, following another Mahoning County district, Poland Local, that signed on to the lawsuit in October.

Upper Arlington near Columbus joined earlier this year, and other suburban districts across the state are seriously considering as our numbers grow.

Why are these suburban schools joining?

Because Vouchers Hurt suburban districts the same way they hurt urban and rural districts by robbing from the public and giving to private schools.

In Canfield, the number of students taking private school vouchers grew by 407 percent in the 2023-24 school year.

In Poland, the percentage grew by 813 percent, and in Upper Arlington, by 2,672 percent.

This is what universal voucher programs do to public schools. The families taking vouchers in places like Canfield, Poland, Upper Arlington and other suburban districts are not moving their children from public to private schools. They are already enrolled so they are getting a refund or rebate on their tuition.

The funding formula passed by Ohio lawmakers who support universal vouchers and Gov. Mike DeWine shortchanges all public schools.

And this is forcing more and more public schools to go back to voters with levies to make up the lost public dollars.

As a board member, joining the lawsuit is standing up for your local home and property owners, and more and more suburban district board members are facing this reality.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Good Tuesday morning,

We’ll be brief today.

We appreciate your reading our weekly emails each Tuesday morning.

We hope they are full of good information and help you stay informed about our effort to sue the state over the unconstitutionality of the private school voucher program.

There are a few steps you can take in less than five minutes to help keep you connected and up-to-date on everything that is happening with vouchers in Ohio and across the nation.

You are already receiving our email, but you can find a great deal of information about our organization and lawsuit at our website: vouchershurtohio.com.

Are you following us on Facebook? If yes, great. If not, please like our page by going here.

You can also follow us on Twitter here.

And Instagram here.

That didn’t hurt, did it?

One last thing: Would you consider thinking of five friends, family members, co-workers or neighbors who you could forward this email to this morning, and ask them to go to our website and sign up for this weekly email?

It’s free, it’s full of information, and let them know, unlike so many emails, we will never ask them for money.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

The pro-voucher crowd is always going on and on about the unbridled popularity of school choice.

Well…

In last week’s elections, in three states, voters had a chance to weigh on school choice measures.

What do you think happened?

Here’s how the Nebraska Examiner put in the Cornhusker state:

Voters on Tuesday (Election Day) resoundingly rejected Nebraska’s new school voucher or scholarship program, steering public dollars spent to public schools.

Nebraska voters reject state funding for students attending private K-12 schools

We call that a thumpin’. Can you guess how much money they were spending on harmful private school vouchers in Nebraska?

In Ohio, we unaffectionately call it our $1 billion boondoggle. Nebraskans were spending $10 million and voters said no way.

Strike one, vouchers!

Let’s move a little closer to home, Kentucky. Voters in the Bluegrass State were asked to amend the Kentucky Constitution to allow public tax dollars to go to private schools.

Voters said No. Strike two, vouchers!

In Colorado, voters were asked a similar question to put school choice in the state constitution.

And they answered in a similar fashion like Nebraska and Kentucky. No.

Strike three, vouchers you are out.

In Ohio, Senate President Matt Huffman and the pro-voucher crowd don’t have the guts to go to voters because they know their scheme that is hurting local public schools and local public school children and ripping off local taxpayers is a bust and very unpopular.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Vouchers are unpopular and standing up for your public schools means standing with the will of the people in your community.

Learn how to join here or email Bill Phillis at ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

One week until the election.

Then, we have the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference that begins Sunday, Nov. 10 and runs through Tuesday, Nov. 12 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio and the Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding will have a Trade Show Booth in the exhibition hall so stop by and see us.

Our booth number is 210.

We will have a lot of information and some great SWAG for you.

We are also going to be making a presentation on the EdChoice voucher lawsuit on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Room A213-215.

In the past, we have had large crowds in attendance so get there early for a seat. We will bring you up-to-date on the lawsuit and we will answer any questions you have.

There is a lot to report. The lawsuit is moving forward in Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page’s courtroom in 2025.

And a recent series of newspaper articles confirmed that the private school voucher programs are siphoning away nearly $1 billion a year from your public schools.

What does this mean for you as an elected board member who must ensure your students learn in a safe environment? Everything.

Stop by our booth, stop by our presentation, and there will be another chance to see how we operate.

On Monday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m., we will hold a Coalition Steering Committee meeting in room C150-151. You are welcome to join and observe and see the dedicated coalition of current and former school board members, superintendents, teachers and yes, of course, we have lawyers.

We are also fortunate to have former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown as our Steering Committee Chairman. We would not be in court suing the state without this group of dedicated steering committee members so please make a point to stop by.

The Coalition has been part of the annual OSBA Capital Conference since 1992 and we are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible during the three days.

Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to join here or email Bill Phillis at ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio