A Court Says No, and a Debate Returns to the Legislature

In Ohio, the question of where a child learns has long carried the weight of something more than policy. It touches on neighborhood, on faith, on the shape of a family's daily life. And for more than a decade, the EdChoice voucher program has stood at the center of a debate about what the state owes to its public schools and what it owes to parents seeking something different.

On Wednesday, the 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio's EdChoice program is unconstitutional. A panel of judges unanimously sided with more than 300 public school districts that sued, finding that the program uses taxpayer dollars to fund a separate system of private schools without the same oversight required of public schools.

"EdChoice, as presently structured and funded, secures with taxpayer funds a competing system of uncommon schools that is not subject to the same obligations imposed on Ohio's system of common schools," Judge Dave Leland wrote. The ruling also found the program illegal for drawing taxpayer money away from public schools and for "cherry-picking students from public schools, causing financial hardship".

The program will remain in effect while the state appeals. Interim Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said he would take the case to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that if the legislature wants to help parents fund school choice, that falls within the General Assembly's authority.

The EdChoice program, created in 2005, awards scholarships to students assigned to lower-performing public schools. A 2013 expansion made scholarships available based on family income. More than 100,000 Ohio families currently receive scholarships through either the Traditional Program or the Expansion Program.

Five families who use the program, represented by the Institute for Justice and EdChoice Legal Advocates, plan to appeal the decision. "This program has been a gamechanger for my children, giving them the opportunity to thrive in schools that meet their specific needs," said Brian Ellis, one of the parents. "I certainly hope the supreme court will overturn today's ruling, or families like mine will lose the ability to afford a good education".

Public education advocates, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling. Ohio's universal voucher scheme diverts more than $1 billion per year to unaccountable private schools while legislators fail to fully and fairly fund public schools, said the All in For Ohio Kids coalition. Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio said two courts have now found that EdChoice vouchers undermine the state's constitutional responsibility to maintain a strong system of public schools.

The case now moves to a 6-1 Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court, which will decide whether the ruling stands. For the families on both sides of this long argument, the question of where a child learns remains what it has always been: a matter of conviction, of circumstance, and of what the state chooses to hold in common.

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Sources: Ohio Capital Journal, News 5 Cleveland, Institute for Justice, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Senate State of Ohio, Buckeye Institute, UPI