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Private School Vouchers: Ohio’s Richest Families Access Scholarships

This was the headline in a recent Cleveland.com article written by Laura Hancock.

Read it here, but be aware it may raise your blood pressure.

One in five private school vouchers are going to families with incomes of 451 percent or higher of the federal poverty level, Hancock wrote.

Her source: the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission (LSC) that works for and does research on the cost of legislation for all state lawmakers.

Take a look at this graphic from the Cleveland.com article:

State legislators propose and pass a large number of laws and the LSC is the taxpayer paid group of state employees who then dig into the actual cost of these programs. They are non-partisan because they must report fairly and accurately to Republicans and Democrats alike in the Ohio General Assembly.

The LSC research confirms that the private school voucher program is welfare for the wealthy.

We already know that the vast majority of private school vouchers are for students already enrolled in private schools.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Matt Huffman, the biggest cheerleader in Ohio for private school vouchers, maintains funding public schools at a constitutional level is “unsustainable,” and a “fantasy.”

This is why we are suing the state, challenging the constitutionality of the harmful EdChoice private school voucher scheme that is siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars away from public schools.

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

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

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

The $1 billion boondoggle private school universal harmful voucher scheme known as EdChoice is going on trial in 2025.

We are challenging the constitutionality of vouchers based on five counts.

Count 1: The Ohio Constitution is clear. The legislature and governor shall create a single system of common schools in Ohio for the common good. Vouchers represent a separate and unequal system of uncommon schools, that has now become a refund and rebate program for wealthy families and a cash cow for private school operators.

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

Count 2: Vouchers increase the over-reliance on local property taxes. The state is shortchanging public schools at the same time it is siphoning away hundreds of millions of dollars to private schools, and this is forcing local public schools to go back to their voters more and more often with levies.

Count 3: Voucher school operators can and do apply litmus tests like family financial status, race, religion, academic/athletic ability, disabilities, etc. to determine who gets in and who is left out. Public schools are open to all children.

Count 4: The Ohio Constitution states no religious or other sect shall have exclusive right or control of any part of the school funds of this state. More than 90 percent of the voucher schools are religious.

Count 5: Vouchers grant special privileges against the power inherent in the people of Ohio.

We believe all five counts outline why the EdChoice private school vouchers are unconstitutional, but we only need one count to be found unconstitutional to win in court.

And winning would mean the state could not fund EdChoice.

We are not alone in Ohio in fighting back against the powerful billionaires like Betsy DeVos and the Koch Family, or their front organizations that are pushing a pro-voucher agenda.

Grass roots organizations like Vouchers Hurt Ohio are popping up in state after state to fight back because vouchers are an existential threat to public schools.

Has your school district joined our lawsuit? Check here.

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

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning

We are seeing a surge in districts joining our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the EdChoice private school voucher scheme.

Here’s a sampling:

Liberty Local School District in Trumbull County just north of Youngstown is the latest district to sign on.

Independence Local Schools in Cuyahoga County and Groveport Madison Schools in Franklin County also joined.

And count the Berea City School District that serves Berea, Brook Park, Middleburg Heights and parts of Olmsted Falls in Cuyahoga County among our growing list.

This trend will continue because more and more ordinary Ohioans are catching on to the $1 billion taxpayer ripoff known as EdChoice vouchers and they are getting angry and active.

In district after district, local citizens are starting to reach out to their local school board members, their superintendents and their treasurers to tell them how vouchers are hurting their prized public schools and their communities.

In Liberty, a former teacher began talking to her board members and helped them understand why vouchers were harming their students and what they could do to fight back.

Read about it here and here.

We are seeing this pattern repeat itself in district after district.

One person can make a difference. A small group of people can make a huge impact.

If you are interested in helping to organize a grassroots effort in your school district to fight back against EdChoice, then please send an email to ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net, and we can help you connect with other Ohioans.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

Berea City Schools near Cleveland in Cuyahoga County is the latest district to join our Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the harmful private school voucher program that is siphoning nearly $1 billion away from public schools each year.

The reason the board members voted to join is shocking and enlightening.

Take a look at this chart “Voucher Usage in the Berea Schools.”

As it notes, the chart created by Berea Board of Education Cori Farris, shows the skyrocketing use of vouchers by non-low-income families in the district.

In the 2022-23 school year, 1 of every 3 families using a voucher in Berea were wealthy.

The next school year, the first year of universal vouchers in Ohio, the percentage and number of wealthy families in Berea using a voucher skyrocketed to 78 percent.

This year, it went up again so that 88 percent, almost 9 of every 10 families taking a voucher in Berea, are not low-income.

In two school years, the number of wealthy families taking vouchers in Berea jumped from 51 to 602.

Berea School Board President Farris, who created the graphic, told cleveland.com this is an “abuse” of the program.

“It’s not the spirit in which the expanded vouchers were meant,” Farris said. “They were meant to offer alternatives to lower performing districts and for lower income families.”

Berea Superintendent Tracy Wheeler told cleveland.com she is not against school choice.

“But if there is going to be school choice, at a minimum put the same accountability on private and parochial schools,” Wheeler said.

The state audits the financial records of each public school, including Berea, each year, cleveland.com notes.

There is zero financial or academic accountability for the private school voucher program. Legislation introduced to increase oversight has been killed by pro-voucher lawmakers in the Ohio General Assembly.

Is your district part of the lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Find out how to join here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

Good Tuesday morning,

Yes, that’s right.

Tim Walz, the governor of Wisconsin, Vice-Presidential candidate in 2024 and rumored to be making a run for the U.S. Senate in 2026, will be the keynote speaker in Columbus at the Network for Public Education (NPE) National Conference in April.

First, it’s great that Ohio and Columbus will host the NPE conference this year.

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.

It is a two-day conference that will be held on April 5 and 6 at the Hyatt Regency.

Find out more about The Network for Public Education here.

And register here.

In addition to Gov. Walz, the 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.

There will be 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.”

We hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio