How bad are Ohio vouchers? Texas is Talkin’!

October 1, 2024

In Texas, they’re talking about the $1 billion boondoggle private school voucher program in Ohio.

Why? Because our universal voucher program is funding private religious school campus renovations and expansion.

We’re building religious schools with taxpayer dollars.

Ohio “will allow the state to provide millions of dollars in grants directly to religious schools, thanks to a bill passed by its Legislature this summer. The bill aims to increase the capacity of religious schools so they can absorb more voucher students, according to Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman.”

This can be found in an article in the ReformAustin media outlet. Read all about it here.

ReformAustin (Texas) is following up on an in depth investigation conducted by ProPublica, which begins their report with a profound and shocking sentence: “The state of Ohio is giving taxpayer money to private, religious schools to help them build new buildings and expand their campuses, which is nearly unprecedented in modern U.S. history.”

ProPublica goes on to say: “While many states have recently enacted sweeping school voucher programs that give parents taxpayer money to spend on private school tuition for their kids, Ohio has cut out the middleman.”

“…the state is now providing millions of dollars in grants directly to religious schools, most of them Catholic, to renovate buildings, build classrooms, improve playgrounds and more.”

Read the ProPublica investigation here.

Meanwhile, public school children continue to attend schools in buildings that need renovated, need new classrooms, and need playground improvements.

This is one of the counts in our lawsuit. The Ohio Constitution is crystal clear. The legislature shall create a single system of common schools for the common good. Private school vouchers create a separate, unequal system of schools primarily for the privileged and wealthy.

Need proof? Long forgotten is the idea that private school vouchers were for poor families. Poor families can’t afford to enroll in the vast majority of private schools because the tuition exceeds the amount of the state voucher.

So vouchers are providing refunds and rebates for wealthy families, including millionaires, who already had enrolled their children in private schools, and hundreds of millions of dollars to private school operators, primarily religious schools.

Here’s the good news.

We have less than five weeks before the historic trial begins. Yes, on Monday, Nov. 4, vouchers go on trial in Franklin County in Judge Jaiza Page’s courtroom.

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

If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.