Ohio’s school voucher program is unconstitutional, according to a ruling by the state’s 10th District Court of Appeals released Oct. 15.
Nearly six months after attorneys argued the case in front of the appellate court, the ruling sided with public schools across the state — and upheld a lower court’s finding from last year. It found the EdChoice program uses taxpayer dollars to fund a competing school system not subject to the same regulations and requirements as the state’s traditional public schools.
“It is absolutely the right decision,” said Akron school board president Barbara Sykes. Her district, along with 335 others in the state, signed on to the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District did not join the lawsuit because Cleveland students use a different voucher program, known as the Cleveland Scholarship.
“I believe that it is true that the vouchers are unconstitutional, and we look forward to whatever the next step may be,” Sykes said.
That next step will be an appeal to the state Supreme Court, according to Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson. The voucher program will continue uninterrupted during the appellate process.
Ohio spent more than $1.1 billion on its scholarship programs for fiscal year 2026 — more than $800 million of that on the EdChoice scholarship. In Summit County, more than $48 million in EdChoice scholarships flowed to private schools in fiscal year 2026.
If the program is overturned, it could impact a number of private schools in Akron, including Archbishop Hoban and St. Vincent-St. Mary high schools; Dreams Academy in Kenmore, Emmanuel Christian Academy in West Hill and others.
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“The current system does not hurt our public schools,” Wilson stated. “There are many great public schools across the state that are doing a wonderful job educating students. This is about a family’s choice on how they want to educate their kids.”
The state constitution requires tax dollars to fund a “thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state,” with no religious sect having the control of any school funds.
EdChoice provides families scholarships ranging from about $6,000 for elementary and middle school students to $8,400 for high school students to offset tuition costs at participating private schools — many of those religious institutions.
Teachers union, U.S. representative laud ruling for protecting public schools
The Akron Education Association, the union representing APS’ teaching staff, saw the ruling as an affirmation that public tax dollars must serve the public good, President Pat Shipe said in a news release. Shipe is also co-chair of the Ohio 8 Coalition, an advocacy group representing the state’s largest urban school districts.
“The fact that more than 300 of Ohio’s public school districts joined together in this lawsuit underscores the widespread concern over the diversion of public education funding and the importance of protecting the public school systems that serve the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s children,” Shipe said.
U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, touched on the ruling during an Oct. 15 forum hosted by the Akron Press Club.
Though she supported families’ right to choose where their child receives an education, she shared the views of her mother, Barbara Sykes, on the importance of public education and the negative impact vouchers have had.
“It undermines the funding and ability for our home schools to educate our children,” Emilia Sykes said. “The way that our public schools have suffered because of vouchers and the expansion of vouchers is criminal, quite frankly.”
School choice advocates decry ‘political’ opposition
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and other school choice groups shared an opposing viewpoint.
Brian Hickey, executive director for the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said in a news release that he was confident the Ohio Supreme Court would rule in the voucher program’s favor.
“Funding EdChoice scholarships for students is a matter of social justice, as it provides equal opportunities for all Ohio children, regardless of their zip code or income. It is also good public policy to encourage a stronger education system that ultimately benefits society and the common good,” he said.
Representatives from School Choice Ohio shared the dioceses’ view and said they were grateful the ruling also granted a stay — meaning there would be no immediate change for families receiving vouchers while the case continued to the state’s high court. The Ohio Supreme Court must accept the state’s appeal for it to move forward.
“At the end of the day, this should not be about politics,” Yitz Frank, School Choice Ohio president, said in a statement. “This is about students — their futures, their opportunities, and the ability for parents to choose the educational setting where their children can succeed.”
He continued, “These scholarship programs have changed the lives of countless students across Ohio. We will continue fighting to ensure families maintain access to the opportunities they deserve.”
School vouchers mirror long history of school funding court cases
Despite the current lawsuit being four years old, vouchers in Ohio are nothing new.
The system started in Cleveland more than 30 years ago, meant to give families financial help to seek educational opportunities outside the struggling urban district. The EdChoice voucher program opened to other Ohio schools for the 2006-07 school year and initially targeted students in academically low-performing schools.
In 2013, the program expanded to families based on income and became nearly universal in 2023, when it opened the option — albeit a prorated amount — to families earning up to 785 percent of the federal poverty level (about $252,300 for a family of four).
“I believe that parents should have the option to send their kids to the school of their choice,” Wilson, the Republican state attorney general, said in a statement. “If the legislature wants to help parents fund that choice, then that is within the authority of the General Assembly to do so.”
But the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, and now appellate judges Kristin Boggs, Shawn Dingus and David Leland — all Democrats — disagreed with Wilson’s assessment.
The appellate court found the state:
- Gave families an economic incentive to leave public schools
- Prioritized funding EdChoice while underfunding public schools
- Allowed private schools to “cherry pick” students using vouchers
The court’s opinion noted that siphoning students away from public schools erodes public trust in those institutions — and, by extension, support for school levies.
Public schools are reliant on local, state and federal dollars for funding, a matter that was at the heart of its own series of court cases in the 1990s and early 2000s.
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DeRolph v. Ohio challenged the constitutionality of the state’s school funding model and, in part, its overreliance on local property taxes. The state’s funding system was declared unconstitutional four times. Attempts have been made in the General Assembly to overhaul the school funding system in the years since the final ruling in 2002.
The 10th District Court of Appeals referenced the DeRolph case in its decision, including the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling on the state’s obligation to upkeep a common school system.
In a news release lauding the appellate court’s ruling, former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown, who now chairs the Vouchers Hurt Ohio steering committee, noted the state constitution is clear.
“Lawmakers should be using tax dollars to fund a single system of common schools open to all children,” he said in a news release. Brown served as chief justice in 2010 and was not involved in any of the DeRolph rulings.
“EdChoice vouchers create a separate, and unequal system of schools — one for the haves and one for the have nots. Today’s decision is a victory for public schools and all the children in this state.”
