Vouchers Unconstitutional. Now What?
Step One: Legislation taking the money for EdChoice Vouchers and fully funding the Fair School Funding Plan.
As you all know, last week Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page ruled that Ohio’s EdChoice Vouchers were unconstitutional, primarily because the money the state has sent directly to private schools (parents and kids do NOT get the vouchers in Ohio) has kept the state from fulfilling its obligations to our 1.5 million public school students.
People have been asking me what to do now that the vouchers are unconstitutional? So over the next few posts, I’m going to posit a plan for moving forward.
However, the first thing that needs done is pretty straightforward:
Legislation zeroing out EdChoice and putting that money into fully funding the Fair School Funding Plan.
Given that with the new state budget, EdChoice funding is expected to go up by about $185 million, that would mean another $945 million or so for the Fair School Funding Plan. Which is just about how short the current Fair School Funding Plan is from realizing its full potential for Ohio’s public school students1.
So let’s take money from an unconstitutional giveaway to private schools — remember, not a single private school parent or student receives an EdChoice voucher — and instead provide world-class education to public school students, all while providing property tax relief because school districts won’t need to go for as many levies, and may even have enough funding to let a few levies roll off the books.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Question is, which legislator will be first to introduce it?
We’re watching.
There will probably need to be a little more once updated weights for special education, ELL and other additional costs are included. But not a ton more.