Ohio parents—not school districts—should choose their children’s schools

Ohio parents, not public school districts, should decide where their children learn, and the Ohio Supreme Court should reverse the ruling that puts that decision in doubt. On Oct. 15, 2026, Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas’ June 24, 2025, summary judgment for the plaintiff school districts. Judge Dave Leland wrote that "EdChoice, as presently structured and funded, secures with taxpayer funds a competing system of uncommon schools that is not subject to the same obligations imposed on Ohio's system of common schools¹." Attorney General Andy Wilson said he would appeal the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Competing for whom?

Ohio Capital Journal reports that more than 300 public school districts sued over the program¹. The Supreme Court of Ohio in Goff warned that “a greatly expanded School Voucher Program or similar program could damage public education.” The Supreme Court of Ohio in Goff warned that “a greatly expanded² School Voucher Program or similar program could damage public education.” The maximum annual award is $6,166 for grades K–8. For grades 9–12, it is $8,408. Wilson said, “I believe that parents should have the option to send their kids to the school of their choice. If the legislature wants to help parents fund that choice, then that is within the authority of the General Assembly to do so.”

The 2023 law opened vouchers to virtually all

What the districts call competition began small. In 1995, the General Assembly created a pilot scholarship for Cleveland students that mainly targeted low-income families and capped awards at $2,500. Lawmakers widened it again and again, and in 2023 they made virtually every Ohio student eligible, regardless of household income or whether the student attended a low-performing public school³.

The law reserves its largest scholarships for lower-income families. Even the wealthiest families receive $650 a year per K-8 student and $950 per high schooler. The court counts the cost of EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion at almost $1.4 billion across fiscal years 2024 and 2025³. Every one of those dollars went where a mother or father decided their own child should learn.

The court treated school choice as a rival system

The districts argued that EdChoice funds a separate school system with too little oversight that rural students cannot reach. The court agreed and faulted the program for "drawing taxpayer money away from public schools" and "cherry-picking students from public schools, causing financial hardship¹."

Whose students are they? A child who leaves a district school has not been picked by anyone; a parent chose a different school. The precedent cuts against the districts, too. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Ohio reviewed the Cleveland program and found no violation of the common-schools provision. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the reenacted program³.

The court limited its ruling to EdChoice

The panel's own qualifier, "as presently structured and funded¹," shows what it is after. The panel objects to how far choice now reaches. The universal version of choice is the version on trial.

The Ohio Supreme Court should protect parent choice

Wilson, the interim Republican attorney general, said he will take the case to the Ohio Supreme Court. He also answered the districts' central charge directly: "The current system does not hurt our public schools¹."

Ohio families should watch that court and hold it to a single yes-or-no question. Does a child's education belong to the parent who raises that child, or to the district that loses the enrollment? The justices should answer for the parent and reverse.

Sources

1. Ohio appeals court rules state's private school voucher system unconstitutional • Ohio Capital Journal
2. Columbus City School Dist. v. State, 2026-Ohio-4047
3. IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO