When we let vouchers drain our schools, it hurts us all.
January 6, 2026
Good Tuesday morning,
Happy New Year!
On June 24, 2025, Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page ruled the EdChoice private school voucher program is unconstitutional on three counts.
As expected, the Ohio Attorney General appealed the case to the 10th District Court of Appeals.
In 2026, we expect the case will be decided.
The paperwork from both sides is due a week from today on January 13, and oral arguments in the case should begin sometime in late spring or early summer.
This means we should have a decision later this year or early 2027.
Our attorneys were confident we had a strong case before Judge Page, and they were right.
Judge Page ruled EdChoice is unconstitutional because 1) it creates a separate and unequal system of common schools open to the few and not all children, 2) siphons public tax dollars ($1.7 billion in the next two years) from an underfunded system of public schools, and it violates a clause in the constitution that forbids public tax dollars from going to private religious schools.
The case will end up in the Ohio Supreme Court, but we only need to prevail on one count for EdChoice to be ruled unconstitutional.
And if we win, the legislature and the governor will not be able to send tax dollars to private schools.
Our case has received a great deal of attention in the media and on social media, and it’s clear that when ordinary Ohioans discover how vouchers are harming local schools, students, teachers, taxpayers, and communities, they become upset and want to get involved.
Our grassroots effort is growing as fast as our coalition.
Ohioans understand the voucher scheme is a billion-dollar boondoggle for private, mostly religious schools, and a refund and rebate for mostly wealthy families using the vouchers because the vast majority of them had their children in private schools already.
These are facts the 10th District Court and the Ohio Supreme Court can’t ignore or deny.
Is your district part of our historic lawsuit? Check here.
If not, why not? Learn more here.
Sincerely,
Vouchers Hurt Ohio