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House Speaker Matt Huffman is feeling the pressure of his anti-public school remarks made earlier this month.

First Huffman said a plan to fully fund public schools at a constitutional level, known as Cupp-Patterson, was “unsustainable,” and then he went even further and said it was a “fantasy.”

Huffman’s fellow lawmakers in the Republican caucus, and remember they elected him Speaker, were not happy because many are from rural areas where public schools are the core of their communities.

The private school voucher scheme that Huffman has championed is draining $1 billion a year away from public schools while enriching private school operators, primarily religious schools, and giving a refund and rebate on tuition to a lot of very wealthy families whose children were already enrolled in private schools.

Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make the connection because the money for vouchers comes from the same line-item in the budget that pays for public schools. A dollar more for vouchers is literally a dollar less available for public schools.

Morgan Trau, a reporter for the Columbus Statehouse bureau whose work appears in numerous media outlets across the state, reported that Huffman and his Republican legislative colleagues went on a private three-day retreat in January where policy was discussed.

Trau reported.

“I’ve confirmed with half a dozen representatives that the speaker’s team gave a presentation about how the current funding formula needs to be cut due to it being “unsustainable.” After the supporters spoke, numerous Republicans stood up to advocate for fully funding public schools, starting a larger discussion.

Some of the lawmakers have been focused on public schools for years. Others haven’t always been the most vocal supporters but still wanted to speak up, while others are education leaders in the state.”

It’s nice to see Huffman feeling the pressure and lawmakers doing the right thing and standing up for public schools, but here’s the sad reality:

When rural Republicans challenged their leadership in states like Tennessee and Texas on the same issue – funding for public schools v. vouchers – those lawmakers suddenly faced primary opponents funded by the Americans For Prosperity.

The rapid expansion of private school vouchers won’t be scaled back in the two-year budget that must be passed by June 30.

Our only recourse is to sue the state, challenging the very constitutionality of the harmful private school voucher scheme, and vouchers go on trial in Franklin County this year.

Is your school district part of the lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn how to join here.

Good Tuesday morning,

Ohio is fast becoming the center of attention in the battle to save public schools, and this spring the Network for Public Education (NPE) is holding their annual 2025 National Conference in Columbus.

The two-day conference will take place on April 5 and 6 at the Hyatt Regency with a pre-conference on Friday, April 4 featuring a conversation between Diane Ravitch, NPE President, and Josh Cowen. Cowen is a professor at Michigan State University and the author of “The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.”

Last year, NPE was in Washington, D.C., and the year prior, in Philadelphia.

NPE comes to the Heartland and you do not want to miss out.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio will hold two panel discussions regarding our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the harmful private school voucher program known as EdChoice.

There will be public school experts and advocates from all across the country.

The keynote speakers include:

Diane Ravitch, NPE President

Kurt Russell, the 2022 National Teacher of the Year

Jess Piper, Rural Communities and Public School Advocate

Gina Hinojosa, Texas State Representative

John H. Jackson, President and CEO, Schott Foundation.

Find out more about The Network for Public Education here.

Check out the Network for Public Education’s National Conference here.

And register here.

We will be posting updates and more information about the conference on our Facebook page.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

Over the holidays and into January, we are seeing more and more public school districts sign on to our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the $1 billion boondoggle EdChoice private school voucher scheme.

In the Mahoning Valley, near Youngstown and Warren, boards of education for the Poland Local Schools and Canfield Local Schools in Mahoning County recently voted to join the lawsuit.

In nearby Trumbull County, the Howland Local Schools board of education voted to join, and board members in Liberty Local Schools in the same area are considering joining.

In Franklin County, in Central Ohio, Groveport Madison Schools voted to sign on to the lawsuit joining other districts in the county that include Upper Arlington, Bexley, Worthington, Gahanna, Westerville, and the state’s largest district, Columbus City Schools.

Meanwhile in southwest Ohio, the Wyoming City School district in Hamilton County also joined.

We are suing the voucher program and have outlined five counts or reasons we believe the harmful program is unconstitutional.

The Ohio Constitution clearly states there shall be one system of common schools for the common good, and vouchers creates a separate and unequal system of schools.

The state is underfunding public schools and the education of public school children while siphoning away hundreds of millions of dollars to private school operators for vouchers that are being used as a refund and rebate for a lot of wealthy parents with children already enrolled in private schools.

Private school operators decide who gets in and who is denied admission to their schools using litmus tests like family income, race, religion, academic/athletic ability, disabilities. Public school doors are open to all children.

And the Ohio Constitution is clear that religious schools shall not receive public tax dollars for education, but more than 90 percent of the voucher schools are religious.

We believe we have a strong case and vouchers are scheduled to go on trial this year in Franklin County before Judge Jaiza Page.

More and more public schools agree with us that something must be done to stop the legislature from expanding the voucher program even more.

Is your district part of this historic lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

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Good Tuesday morning and Happy New Year!

Here’s the headline in this morning’s Columbus Dispatch:

“It’s official: Ohio has new GOP Speaker Matt Huffman, Senate President Rob McColley.”
New Ohio House speaker backs school choice, lowering the state’s income tax and limiting access to legal marijuana approved by voters in 2023

Read it here.

Huffman backs school choice and cutting the income tax, which means he wants to expand upon private school vouchers that are already siphoning $1 billion away from public schools while reducing the money available to state lawmakers to return to communities by cutting the income tax.

Let that sink in.

Lawmakers returned for the new two-year legislative session and their priorities are to continue to force local public school districts to go back to local property owners to pay for their local schools.

These lawmakers have until June 30 to pass a new two-year state budget, and if you want to understand their priorities look at where they spend their money.

It is not going to be public schools.

The state began experiencing some belt tightening last year when revenues came in lower than expected and federal one-time funding money dried up.

If they are true to their word, and when it comes to vouchers Huffman has never hidden his intentions, then private school parents and private school operators are going to win and local public schools are going to lose in the two-year budget.

One of our five counts in the lawsuit outlines how the private school voucher program known as EdChoice is unconstitutional because it exacerbates the over-reliance on local property taxes to pay for public schools. This is an issue the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on four times in the landmark DeRolph decision.

Huffman and McColley are not going to change their minds or their direction.

This is why we are suing, to have a fair hearing on this issue in the court of law.

Is your district part of this historic lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

This will be our last email of the year, but we will return with weekly updates beginning January 7, 2025.

Looking back at 2024, we witnessed how the private school voucher program is harming our public schools.

We learned the real choice and power in so-called school choice is in the hands of the private school operators who get to pick and choose their students based on income, athletic or academic talent, religion, race, and disability so the universal voucher program is but a myth.

It is a program for wealthy and religious families as the vast majority of families taking vouchers are just receiving a refund or a rebate for their tuition. They aren’t moving their children from public to religious schools. They were already enrolled.

We learned each dollar more for private schools is a dollar less for public schools so the $1 billion boondoggle for vouchers is literally robbing the public schools to pay the private school pirates.

We learned the pro-voucher gang, backed by billionaires like the Koch family and Betsy DeVos, know exactly what they are doing. This is a calculated plundering of the public treasury and they want the loot, but they don’t want to be held accountable for a single penny financially or a single student academically.

When some state lawmakers proposed financial and academic accountability, the pro-voucher crowd lobbied like there was no tomorrow to gut those oversight ideas from any legislation.

Yes, it was a tough year and you can already see the adverse impact on public schools as more and more local districts are forced to go to local voters with requests for levies or face cutting programs, teachers and staff.

We’ve seen the unfair impact of state mandates that cost public schools like the requirement to provide transportation for all private school students regardless of cost. Do you think the state reimburses public schools for this heavy toll? No way.

We realize this is hard to take, and this is why we are fighting back.

We’ve seen a group of suburban wealthy schools across the state rise up against vouchers and join our lawsuit.

We’ve seen all types of public schools from urban to rural to small town to suburban sign up because they understand we need to save our schools and protect our taxpayers from this ripoff.

We’ve also witnessed a rebellion against voucher expansion in other states with groups deciding the best tactic for them to challenge vouchers.

And we saw voters in three states reject vouchers and school choice when it was put on the ballot for a vote.

Our extreme lawmakers and Gov. DeWine would never put vouchers up for a vote in Ohio because they know it would be a loser for them.

And here is the best news of all for public schools and public school supporters.

Vouchers in Ohio go on trial in 2025.

We’ll repeat that: Vouchers in Ohio go on trial in 2025.

We’re looking forward to the new year.

Is your district part of this historic lawsuit? Check here.

If not, isn’t it time you joined. You don’t want to miss it. Learn how here.

We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! See you again in 2025!