Vouchers Hurt Ohio slammed a new Republican bill that would withhold state funding from school districts that are involved in their ongoing lawsuit against the state’s school voucher program.
Ohio state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, recently introduced Ohio House Bill 671 which would allow the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to withhold state foundation funding from school districts that are part of the Vouchers Hurt Ohio coalition.
Callender now says he is going to request an amendment to the bill so that the department would not withhold all school funding for districts in escrow, but rather only the amount districts are spending on the lawsuit.
The director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management would transfer the amount of withheld funds into an escrow fund and ODEW would only release the funds if the legal action stopped or the school district withdrew from the lawsuit, according to the bill.
“This piece of legislation is not a serious piece of legislation because it’s obviously unconstitutional,” Mark Wallach, an attorney for McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman that represents Vouchers Hurt Ohio, said during a Thursday press conference.
More than 300 school districts — about half of the state’s school districts — are part of the Vouchers Hurt Ohio coalition.
“You’re talking about billions of dollars that are going to be cut off,” Wallach said.
After Callender announced his plan to amend his proposal, Vouchers Hurt Ohio issued a statement saying the bill would still be unconstitutional.
“Whether it is a dime or $1 million, it’s unconstitutional,” said Eric Brown, former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice and former Columbus City Schools Board of Education member.
“The legislature should be listening to Judge Page, and address the unconstitutional EdChoice private school voucher program that is siphoning away $1.7 billion from underfunded, shortchanged public schools and public school children,” Brown said.
Last week at the news conference, speaking about Callender’s proposal as it stood at the time, Brown said Columbus City Schools would lose about $150 million.
About 60% of Dayton City Schools’ general fund comes from the state foundation money, said Dayton City Schools Board Member Jocelyn Rhynard.
“This would be a huge loss to our ability to give every single child in the city an equitable education,” she said.
Vouchers Hurt Ohio filed a lawsuit in 2022 targeting the EdChoice private school voucher program, arguing the program has grown disproportionately while resources for public school districts have dwindled.
In June, a Franklin County judge ruled in June that Ohio’s EdChoice program is unconstitutional. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appealed the decision and the case is in the 10th District Court of Appeals. No date has been set yet for the next hearing.
Lawmakers expanded the Education Choice Expansion eligibility to 450% of the poverty line through the 2023 state budget — creating near-universal school vouchers.
K-8 students can receive a $6,166 scholarship and high schoolers can receive a $8,408 scholarship in state funding under the expansion.
Ohio spent more than a billion dollars on private school vouchers for the 2025 fiscal year, the second full year with near-universal school vouchers. Nearly half of the money ($492.8 million) was from Education Choice Expansion vouchers.
If H.B. 671 were to be signed into law, Wallach said they would immediately file an injunction.
“The legislature has been instructed by the Ohio Constitution to secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools or public schools throughout the state,” he said.
“Well, cutting the funding off from about half the schools in the state would clearly violate that constitutional requirement.”
No one from Vouchers Hurt Ohio said they have tried to talk to Callender about his bill.
The Ohio Capital Journal reached out to Callender’s office for a comment, but did not hear back.
“This bill is outrageous and it doesn’t belong in the legislature or anywhere,” Brown said. “Representative Callender is trying to bully and intimidate our local school districts, and it won’t work.”
This is a bully bill, said William L. Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding.
“I want to leave a message for the school districts of Ohio — we have your back,” he said.
Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, called the bill ridiculous.
“They’ve gone way beyond what anyone ever expected from the beginning to have more than a billion dollars go to vouchers,” she said. “This is money taken away from public schools.”
Ohio’s voucher program started with the Cleveland Scholarships back in 1996 and about 90% of Ohio students attend public schools today.
“We have a responsibility, actually, it’s in our constitution to fund the public schools in the state of Ohio, and I think we really need to … make sure that we’ve accomplished our commitment and our responsibility to the majority of the people of Ohio,” Antonio said.
Originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal. Republished here with permission.