Ohio: Extortion in Defense of Vouchers
Private school coupon backers seek to take money from public schools
The budget for taxpayer-funded private school coupons (vouchers) in Ohio runs to $1 billion.
There are five different voucher schemes in the state.
Now, a group of school districts is suing to stop some of the vouchers, saying the program’s parameters create funding inequity. That is, private school coupon kids in some programs get more “per pupil spending” than those in public schools.
At a minimum, the public schools say, the funding should be the same.
In the 2023-2024 school year, students in Richmond Heights Local School District received $1,530 in state funding. Students in Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District received $2,600. That’s far less than what EdChoice students in grades K-8 received, $6,166, and high school students got, $8,408.
The districts argue this disparity is unjustified and discriminatory, and that public school students should not have to leave public education to receive equal treatment.
Peter Greene reports that Ohio lawmakers are now considering legislation that would withhold funding from school districts that sue the state over vouchers:
In Ohio, over 330 local school districts and a bunch of public school parents has sued the state over two of the state’s five taxpayer-funded school voucher programs, charging they violate the state constitution. And they’ve been doing pretty well.
Well, Rep. Jamie Callendar has decided that while the case is working through the courts, the legislature should throw some muscle around and try a little extortion and revenge against those school districts.
His HB 671 is pretty simple. The state will withhold funding from any school district involved in the lawsuit. The money will go into escrow, and the school district can’t have it until they drop their lawsuit.
So, when privatizers can’t win in the courts on an argument of fundamental fairness, they just take to the legislature and try to kneecap the districts filing suit.
Of course, parents in the districts where students receive less state funding could still be parties to the suit.
The larger point, though, is that lawmakers should not attempt to extort their way to a legal victory.