Ohio's EdChoice program: What is 'parents' choice' in education?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- When local politics began complicating Vanessa Wells' daughter's well-being at her local public school, Wells said she knew she needed to make a change.

"I went to public school in my hometown, so I’ve always been a strong public school advocate; however, once I realized there was far more to it after seeing what our daughter dealt with, I am very pro-EdChoice," Wells said. "Not that I don’t still support the public schools, but I do recognize they likely won’t always be the best for each student."

Wells said parents' choice can be closely linked to Ohio's EdChoice scholarship, which allows qualifying Ohio students to attend private school using state-funded scholarships. Ohio offers five scholarship programs for students to attend non-public schools with state financial aid:

• Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship (JPSN), which provides scholarships for K-12 graders who have an individualized education program
• Autism Scholarship, which funds students with autism who want to attend a special education program other than the one offered at their public school district
• Cleveland Scholarship, which is for Cleveland Municipal School District students who have low-income status and want to attend private school
• Education Choice Scholarship (EdChoice), which gives low-income public school students the chance to attend private school
• Education Choice Expansion (EdChoice-Exp), which gives any student the chance to attend private school with at least part of their tuition covered by the state, regardless of income.

Wells is one of hundreds of thousands of parents who have embraced Ohio's voucher system as an opportunity for parents to have more control over their students' education. Republican lawmakers have echoed that parents' rights in public school education are a priority for them, as evidenced by the recent passage of the "Parents' Bill of Rights" and the nearly $1 billion in state funds allocated to the voucher system during the 2023-2024 school year.

Although the voucher system issue is often associated with conservative politicians, Wells said her rejection of a Republican endorsement of her local school board campaign contributed to her embrace of EdChoice. She said she was "required to say exactly what they told me to say" by those behind the endorsement and the fallout of her public decision to drop the endorsement contributed to a difficult school life for her daughter.

"Our daughter has always been a bookworm and a very strong student, but unfortunately, her school situation was wearing on her as far as mentally," Wells said. "It’s sad because once I started speaking up, I realized how many other parents and kids have had to deal with similar types of situations and it truly became awful for their kids."

Wells' daughter was just one of the 150,920 Ohio students who attended private school through state-funded vouchers in the 2023-24 school year. School Choice Ohio, an advocacy group in favor of the voucher system, equates the voucher system with parental choice.

Not all Ohioans agree. William Phillis has been the executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School funding since 1992, and he is also helping to spearhead advocacy group Vouchers Hurt Ohio. Vouchers Hurt Ohio has sued the state, alleging the voucher system's expansion is unconstitutional and takes money from public schools.

Under its previous school funding system, the state allocated funds per student to each public school district, and then subtracted the amount per voucher student in the district to pay for the scholarships. In 2022, Ohio switched its school funding formula so the voucher system no longer directly takes funding from public districts, although both come from the state education fund. See previous coverage of lawmakers asking for more transparency in the voucher system in the video player above.

According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the maximum amount for EdChoice and EdChoice-Exp scholarships is $6,166 for kindergarten through eighth grade, and $8,408 for high schoolers. EdChoice-Exp students who do not qualify for the full scholarship due to a lack of demonstrated financial need still qualify for the minimum amount, or $616 for younger students and $840 for high schoolers.

According to resources from the Diocese of Columbus, which promotes EdChoice scholarships as an option for families to pursue religious education, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce allows families a simpler path to get the minimum funding amount. The state allows families to opt out of submitting their income for verification in lieu of a notarized affidavit promising the family is eligible for the minimum amount.

"Ohio's Educational Choice (EdChoice) Scholarship Program is now accessible to ALL Ohioans! Thanks to sweeping changes outlined in HB 33 and signed into law on July 3 by Governor DeWine, EVERY student now has the opportunity to attend a participating Catholic school for little or no cost," the Diocese website states.

"The richest person in Ohio, if they have kids, could get at least a partial voucher,” Phillis said.

According to EdChoice -- a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding school choice voucher systems -- Ohio ranks fourth nationally in private school voucher funding, dedicating 3.69% of its education budget to the voucher system. In direct spending, Ohio ranks third with $962 million spent in 2024, falling behind only Arizona ($1.06 billion) and Florida ($3.7 billion). In total, the U.S. allocated $8.2 billion to private school choice programs, according to EdChoice.

"If scholarships are eliminated in Ohio, public education would be the only educational option for Ohio students unless a family can afford to pay tuition at a private school or have the resources to move to a better performing school district," School Choice Ohio writes. "In other words, options would only be available to those who can afford it."

"The funding for private school vouchers comes out of the same line-item in the state budget that pays for public schools," Vouchers Hurt Ohio said. "A dollar more private schools is a dollar less for public schools. Local school districts, losing tax dollars to private schools, will be forced to go back to local taxpayers more and more often with levy requests."

"I think we all just want these kids to succeed, and it’s going to take a different path for many of them and my hope is that we continue to allow that," Wells said.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio's lawsuit is scheduled for summary judgment on April 28 in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.