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Good Tuesday morning,

Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled his two-year state budget yesterday that included some tax increases and a desire to fully fund public schools.

This, of course, put him immediately at odds with the Voucher-in-Chief, House Speaker Matt Huffman, who has said funding public schools is “unsustainable,” and a “fantasy.”

So who will define Ohio’s reality in the next six months because the budget is due to be signed into law no later than June 30?

There’s a whole lot of ping pong being played in Columbus and public schools are caught in the middle.

Meanwhile, the uncapped private school $1 billion boondoggle goes unchecked.

No oversight.

No financial accountability.

No fiscal responsibility.

Something will have to give by June 30 and if the past predicts the future it will be public schools.

This is why we cannot rely on the legislature or the governor to seriously address the unconstitutional private school voucher scheme.

This is why we must go to court.

We will this year as vouchers go on trial in Franklin County, just down the street from where the governor and lawmakers work.

This is not a false alarm.

Vouchers challenge the very existence of public schools.

We have five counts already given merit by Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page and we need only one to find the system unconstitutional.

Our first count is very strong.

The Ohio Constitution is clear.

Lawmakers and the governor shall create a single system of common schools for the common good.

Vouchers are a separate and unequal system of schools, benefiting the wealthy and enriching private school operators.

Join us. Is your district part of our lawsuit? Check here.

If not, why not? Learn more about joining here.

Sincerely,

Vouchers Hurt Ohio

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