Vouchers Hurt Ohio Lawsuit to Challenge EdChoice Voucher Policy

Ohio public school districts are invited to join Vouchers Hurt Ohio, a coalition that will challenge the legality of Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program that requires local school districts to fund private school scholarships. 

New litigation will focus on the Ohio legislature’s intrusion into local control of resources, and its failure to uphold its Constitutional responsibility to fund a thorough and efficient system of common schools. Rather than adequately fund the public system and reduce reliance on local property taxes, as mandated in the DeRolph school funding case, the legislature has made funding private education a priority. EdChoice voucher costs force local communities to either raise property taxes to fill any deficit created by voucher costs, an expense over which they have no control, or cut services to public school students. Both options weaken the public schools, and make it even harder for the legislature to fulfill its responsibility to provide adequate and equitable resources to Ohio’s common schools.

Anyone who is committed to upholding the purpose and success of our system of common schools has a stake in this suit. The legislature’s penchant for advancing private education at the expense of its constitutional obligation to fund a high-quality system of public schools, suggests no one is immune and the costs will only increase.

For a school district to join the lawsuit, the local board of education must pass a “rejoinder resolution,” and commit legal fees at the rate of $2 for each student enrolled in that district. 

For more information, contact William Phillis, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, that is managing membership and dues. Ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net or call 614-332-2886.