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Good Tuesday morning,

A few years ago, The Center for Christian Virtue invested about $5 million in purchasing a building in Columbus with a bird’s-eye view of the Statehouse.

Bill Phillis wrote a guest column about the organization’s growth in the Columbus Dispatch that you can read here.

Philis looked at their 990 report and found the CCV raised more than $4 million last year as they lobby for, among other things, private school vouchers.

He was writing in response to an article the Dispatch had published regarding the CCV and its president, Aaron Baer.

Phillis, who is addressing the serious issue of separation of church and state, notes Baer told the Dispatch: “The church should influence the government, but the government should absolutely stay out of the business of the church.”

Phillis writes in his column: “Baer is saying give us tax funds and government influence and protection with no strings attached. Further, (Baer) is saying, what we do with the tax money is not the business of the general public.”

Under their umbrella, the CCV has established the Ohio Christian Education Network that boasts on its website that it represents more than 170 Evangelical and Catholic schools in Ohio.

The Christian Education Network charges its participating schools $5 per pupil per year.

You don’t notice State Rep. Jamie Callender asking any questions regarding where that money comes from, but you can bet a large number of the 170 schools in the Christian Education Network are taking in voucher money from the state, i.e. public tax dollars.

So are tax dollars supplementing the Center for Chrisitan Virtue’s purchase of a $5 million building?

Are public tax dollars paying for the organization to lobby?

Are public tax dollars lifting up the Ohio Christian Education Network?

Here is what the Ohio Christian Network lists as its “commitment to members.”

• Advancing the core principles at the Ohio Statehouse
• Serve as a liaison for questions regarding legislation or issues with the Ohio Department of Education
• Ohio-specific legislative updates reflecting the most pressing issues affecting Christian schools
• Annual Statehouse Advocacy Day
• Annual Report of Christian Education in Ohio
• Concierge-level service at the Ohio Statehouse including scheduling meetings with your legislators and Statehouse tours
• Onsite and/or regional legislative advocacy training

In asking more schools to join, their website states “join a movement committed to ensuring every Ohio student has access to a biblically-based education.”

This is at the essence of our lawsuit. The Ohio Constitution is clear, and the constitutional framers were clear, that tax dollars should not pay for private, religious schools.

Yet, more than 90 percent of the private schools taking the vast majority of the $1.7 billion in voucher money in the next two years will be religious.

Is there a double standard here?

Of course, there is and this is yet another reason why we are suing the state and challenging the constitutionality of the harmful EdChoice private school voucher program.

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

If not, why not? Learn more here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

State Rep. Jamie Callender has backtracked on his “Public School Bully Bill” because we stood up to the bully.

Callender knows the lawmakers supporting the $1.7 billion EdChoice private school voucher scheme do not have a constitutional leg to stand on.

So Callender resorted to threats, intimidation, and bullying. He introduced legislation to withhold state funding from school districts in our Vouchers Hurt Ohio coalition that were suing the state.

It was an empty threat.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio held a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 12.

Our lead attorney, Mark Wallach, explained that Callender’s threat was unconstitutional and that we would go into court immediately with an injunction and win should the lawmakers be stupid enough to pass it.

Joining Wallach, former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Eric Brown, who chairs the Vouchers Hurt Ohio steering committee, called Callender’s idea “outrageous,” and said he “is trying to bully and intimidate our local school districts and it won’t work.”

The news from the press conference spread fast across the state and added to the mounting criticism and pressure that Callender was feeling from educators, parents, community members and even his fellow lawmakers.

Callender has zero co-sponsors on his bully bill. Zero.

The day after the press conference, Morgan Trau, a reporter with NEWS 5 in Cleveland, reported…”after mass backlash, (Callender) has reversed course.

Watch it here.

The disgraced Callender tried to save face. He told Trau he would amend his plan to not withhold all state funding to the districts, but only the amount the school was spending on the lawsuit.

Let’s do some math before we take Callender’s clown act apart.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio asks school districts to spend $2 per pupil per year. We have more than 330 school districts in our coalition. Most spend far less in a year on the lawsuit than a single voucher for a high school student, which is $8,400.

The 330 school districts in Vouchers Hurt Ohio have spent $1.7 million on the lawsuit in six years. Six years. Callender voted to spend $1.7 billion on vouchers in the next two years with zero financial or academic accountability. In two years.

Callender spreads a bunch of, and we’re being generous here, mistruths in his interview with Trau.

On Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Frances McGowan tried to interview Callender about his backtrack.

He went into hiding. Read about it here.

“When contacted, Callender referred cleveland.com | The Plain Dealer to his staff, which did not return requests for comment.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio issued a press release the same day because Callender’s idea is still unconstitutional. He can’t punish school districts for exercising their constitutional right to challenge policies that harm public school children.

Plain and simple.

Judge Brown said:

“The bill will still penalize school districts and continues to be unconstitutional. Whether it is a dime or $1 million, it’s unconstitutional. The legislature should be listening to (Franklin County) Judge (Jaiza) Page, and address the unconstitutional EdChoice private school voucher program that is siphoning away $1.7 billion from underfunded, shortchanged public schools and public school children.”

Mark Wallach said:

“During the budget process, the legislature decides to fund public schools at a specific amount to meet their Constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient education” to Ohio’s students. They cannot pass a budget and months later reduce that amount just because they don’t like the idea that public schools are challenging an unconstitutional alternative system of schools that will take in a whopping $1.7 billion in the next two years. If they pass this bill, we will immediately move to challenge it with an injunction, and we will win because it is blatantly unconstitutional.”

William L. Phillis said:

“Rep. Callender presents his proposed legislation as though the coalition is somehow wasting school funds, using it on frivolous litigation. Our lawsuit uncovered a blatant problem in the way state lawmakers continue to inadequately and inequitably fund our public schools. Judge Page has already found this program, EdChoice, to be unconstitutional. State lawmakers should be appreciative that we have uncovered this unconstitutional issue so they can fix it.”

Now are you fed up with the way the pro-voucher crowd in the legislature has been treating you, your district, your students, your communities?

Are you angry at the bullying and the blatant disrespect they have for you – especially the local board members who are duly elected and take an oath of office to uphold the Ohio Constitution?

Well, what are you waiting for?

Stand up to these bullies with us because they back down when we push back.

Are you part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, ask yourself, considering this latest craziness from Columbus, why not? Join here.

We are stronger together and we need all districts to stand up and join.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

We have a very important message for you this morning:

Do not be threatened by the anti-public school lawmakers in Columbus.

They want to bully you because they know the EdChoice private school voucher program they are pushing, for a rash of ideological reasons, is unconstitutional, wrong, and indefensible.

A few years ago, then-Senate President, now House Speaker, Matt Huffman sicced the State Auditor Keith Faber on our coalition.

It was a big public display of nothing. Faber issued threats and subpoena, and nothing happened.

What was their goal? They wanted to scare district superintendents, board members, and treasurers into not joining our lawsuit.

We had about 200 districts at that time.

Guess what happened since then?

Our coalition has more than doubled in size to 330-plus school districts.

Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page ruled on June 24, 2025 that the EdChoice private school funding program is unconstitutional on three counts. Our winning case is now before the 10th District Court of Appeals.

We keep growing and we keep winning, and that makes Huffman and his pro-voucher crowd uneasy.

After all, Huffman is the guy who once told the Columbus Dispatch “we kind of do what we want.”

Well, he’s not getting his way because we’re challenging him in the courts.

All of this brings us to the latest trial balloon threat floated last week by Rep. Jamie Callender.

Callender, a Huffman minion who carried water for David Brennan’s extremely profitable charter school crusade and has advocated for charter schools ever since, introduced legislation to withhold state funding from school districts that participate in our lawsuit.

Callender knows better. He knows this trial balloon will burst with the tiniest of pinpricks, but he and Huffman are sweating big time because they know they’ve got a loser on their hands in trying to make the case that EdChoice vouchers are constitutional.

Here’s what you need to know.

Callender’s bill is a dog that won’t hunt.

Our lawyers will go to court and quash this dumb idea faster than you can say Call-END-er.

We have three branches of government, not one.

People far wiser than Matt Huffman and Jamie Callender knew you can’t give absolute power to one branch, and created checks and balances.

We have the right to sue the state, and so do other governmental entities like cities, townships, and counties.

Callender’s threat is ludicrous.

Taking $1.7 billion from the same line item in the state budget that is supposed to fund public schools, which are underfunded, and giving it to mostly wealthy families in mostly religious schools is unconstitutional.

Don’t be intimidated. We’re not backing down.

Join our growing coalition.

Are you part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not stand up to the bully and be on the right side of history? Join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

The pro-voucher crowd is starting to let us see them sweat.

Last week, they rolled out legislation to cap income levels for eligibility for EdChoice private school vouchers.

So what is the proposed cutoff point? How much can a family earn before their income makes them ineligible for a voucher?

$500,000!

Yes, the proposed legislation would say no voucher for you if you earn $500,000 or more a year.

This is legislation designed to remove talking points, not solve problems.

It hurts the pro-voucher crowd when we say millionaires and billionaires like Les Wexner are eligible for vouchers.

One, because it’s true. Two, because it just looks bad from a public relations standpoint. And three, because it’s true.

Don’t be distracted.

Here’s what the legislation doesn’t do and why the proposal is not worth the paper it is printed on: it doesn’t address the fundamental core, unconstitutional questions posed by the EdChoice private school voucher scheme that will siphon $1.7 billion in the next two years away from public schools.

We are not suing over income eligibility.

We are suing and winning because EdChoice vouchers create a separate and unequal system of uncommon schools (primarily for the haves and not the have nots) while the Ohio Constitution says lawmakers shall create a single system of common schools open to all children with our tax dollars.

We are suing because state lawmakers are shortchanging public schools by tossing out the Cupp Patterson Fair School Funding plan that would have funded schools at a constitutional level while diverting billions of dollars to vouchers and once again shifting the burden of paying for local public schools to local taxpayers.

A ludicrous income cap of $500,000 is only a bad public relations stunt.

Stay the course.

We’re making history.

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

If not, why not? Learn more here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

While you’re trying to stay warm, we recommend you stay connected to Vouchers Hurt Ohio and our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the harmful private school voucher scheme known as EdChoice.

You are already receiving our weekly email, but do you know others who are interested in following Vouchers Hurt Ohio?

Please share this link with them.

Our social media presence is strong and growing, and we post regularly about the lawsuit, the issues surrounding vouchers, and even what is happening in other states.

We are not suing Ohio in a vacuum. In state after state where anti-public school groups have pushed to expand vouchers, grassroots organizations like Vouchers Hurt Ohio have sprung up in opposition.

Our Facebook page now has more than 3,000 followers, and is growing every day. We post shareable images, links to news stories in Ohio and elsewhere, and information about how vouchers are hurting our students, educators, parents, taxpayers, and others.

In the past week, we shared news articles about how vouchers are forcing local homeowners to pay more in property taxes, a podcast from Cleveland.com that dug into how lawmakers created a $1 billion private school voucher program without asking voters, share badges, and a continuing look at the impact of the legislature abandoning the Cupp Patterson Fair School Funding plan.

In Valley View Local, in Montgomery County, for example, lawmakers shortchanged the public school students in Valley View by $3.47 million, as they siphon away $1.7 billion in public tax dollars for private school vouchers in the next two years.

Follow us here.

We are seeing tremendous growth on our X or Twitter page. Follow us here.

And we post regularly on Instagram as well. Check our Instagram page out here.

You can find quick links to all these pages and more information at our website: vouchershurtohio.com.

As you know, Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page ruled in our favor on three counts and found the EdChoice private school funding scheme unconstitutional in June, 2025.

This year, our case will be heard before the 10th District Court of Appeals, where we believe once again EdChoice will be found unconstitutional.

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

If not, why not? Learn more here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio