Privatizing Education - Vouchers
- LWV Ohio
- Jul 11, 2022
- 11 min read
Updated: Mar 5, 2024
Education is a primary responsibility of state government and funding a system of public
schools is enshrined in the Ohio Constitution. When lawmakers allocate public funds to private
schools or nonpublic education opportunities, they are privatizing education. Vouchers – tuition
scholarships for private education, are one of many privatizing options. In 2023 Ohio made
access to private school tuition payments available to all students and became a national leader in
privatizing a public good - education.
Updated: March 1, 2024
In Ohio, privatizing education takes three forms: vouchers, charter schools, and tax credits. Each approach allows families who opt out of public schools to use public funds for their education alternative. Those funds are not subject to oversight by an elected school board and operate with fewer constraints and less transparency than the public schools serving the same community.
LWVO positions relevant to privatizing education:
| Focus On Advocacy
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Public Funds for Private Education
In 1825, at the inception of Ohio’s public school system and then again in the 1851 Ohio Constitution, lawmakers reserved the use of public funds for public education, the system that includes everyone, is available everywhere, and is accountable to the public for what is achieved and how funds are spent.
This tradition and the strict separation of church and state that it confirms, started to change in 1965 when the legislature made public school districts responsible for transporting private school students. By 1990 the state’s generosity toward private schools was visible in a state funded program to pay for Auxiliary Services and Administrative costs.
In 2023, the 135th General Assembly appropriated more than $166.8 million for Auxiliary Services providing $927 for each student attending a private school. The budget also included $75.4 million for Administrative Cost Reimbursements at the rate of $475 per student. This is more per public funding than many public schools receive.
The idea of “privatizing” education took hold in Ohio in 1997 when the legislature decided to fund private school tuition for children attending low performing public schools in Cleveland. This was part of a national movement to remove any barrier to private schools receiving public funds. The “school choice” movement was intent on transforming education from a public good to an individual right, and to rely on a marketplace approach to drive education quality
The state investment in private education has continued to grow since then as it added four more voucher programs, extended eligibility in each program, and increased scholarship awards. In 2023 the legislature made access to vouchers universal. The transfer of public funds to private schools did not bring with it new regulations for private schools or requirements for transparency.
Ohio residents have always had the right to attend a private school, but at their own expense. Most private schools are operated by religious organizations. The separation of church and state was clear. That line has disappeared.
Public education is a public good because everyone benefits from educated citizens, regardless of whether they have children who use the schools. In the privatized environment, private education at public expense is an individual right and the beneficiary is the student. Privatizing changes education from serving the common good to upholding individual rights.
Voucher Changes Over Time
In 1997 at the urging of Governor George Voinovich, the legislature created the Cleveland Scholarship Program, Ohio’s first voucher program. Vouchers were justified as a way to help Cleveland students escape their underfunded public schools, schools characterized by high concentration of poor and minority children. Most of the eligible private schools were religious and enrollment was declining.
In 1999 a coalition of civic and religious groups, including the LWVO, challenged the constitutionality of the Cleveland vouchers as a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment of the US Constitution. Known as the Zelman case, plaintiffs won at the district court level. While nearly all students attended a religious school, in 2002 the U. S. Supreme Court ruled the program to be school neutral and legal.
The Zelman decision opened the door to voucher expansion. Ohio lawmakers created four additional voucher programs, each targeting different populations. The Autism (2003) and Jon Peterson Special Needs (2011) programs focus on children with disabilities. EdChoice (2005) gave students in low performing schools throughout the state access to vouchers. EdChoice Expansion (2014) was created to give low income households resources for private school use. The target was households whose income is below 200% of the federal poverty level. Over time the legislature has expanded access and increased the per pupil voucher value for each program.
Vouchers were funded by the deduction method: local school districts were expected to fund part of the cost of each voucher that went to a student who lived in their school district. EdChoice vouchers were tied to test scores. Since test scores are correlated to the income level of student, the EdChoice program punished high poverty districts that had to forfeit state funds to underwrite private school vouchers.
In 2021 the 134th General Assembly adopted a state budget that changed the funding mechanism for vouchers, and the method for setting the value of each scholarship. Deduction funding was replaced by direct funding of all vouchers from the state budget. Spending for public schools, charter schools and vouchers were assigned to the same line item in the state budget.
Table 1: Voucher Amount by Year and Grade Span for EdChoice Vouchers
FY21-23 | FY22-23 | FY 24-25 | |
K-8 | $4,650 | $5,500 | $6,166 |
9-12 | $6,000 | $7,500 | $8,405 |
Lawmakers also linked all increases in scholarship amounts to increases in state spending on public school students. The value of each voucher is set in each state budget and has increased over time. Funding levels will continue to grow if public school spending increases
The legislature has also made adjustments to the performance based EdChoice program. In 2020, when the number of districts with schools deemed to be failing was set to explode from 140 to more than 410 – two-thirds of the districts in the state- lawmakers made two changes. They limited the traditional EdChoice program to school districts where 20% or more of the students qualify for Title 1 services (high poverty districts), and to schools whose test scores fall in the lowest 20% of all public schools in Ohio for two consecutive years.
Each year the number of districts and the number of schools where EdChoice applies changes, as does the number of new performance-based EdChoice vouchers that are awarded. During the 2021-22 school year there were 473 buildings in 87 districts where state tests triggered access to EdChoice vouchers. The next year it was 412 buildings in 57 districts, and in FY 24 and 25 the numbers are 460 buildings in 62 districts. Once a student is awarded a voucher and they meet certain conditions, they are eligible to renew it until they graduate regardless of any changes in ranking of the public schools where they live. By increasing access to income-based vouchers, the Legislature guaranteed that new vouchers would still be available in school districts that were no longer on the list of schools with low test scores.
The 135th General Assembly used the budget to dramatically change access to vouchers by changing the rules for the EdChoice Expansion program, the income-based vouchers. They increased eligibility for the full value of a voucher from household incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty level to 450%, and guaranteed some level of funding for all families regardless of income.
According to the Thomas Fordham Institute, this change made Ohio one of 10 states with universal access to vouchers. The change effectively made complete the transfer of responsibility for funding private education from the individual family to the public.
Table 2: Voucher Awarded by Program – 2021-22 to 23-24 School Year
Program | # awarded FY22 | # awarded FY 23 | # awarded FY 24* |
EdChoice Expansion | 17,152 | 24,323 | 84,293 |
EdChoice | 33,129 | 40,629 | 42,205 |
Cleveland | 7,790 | 8,282 | 8,147 |
Autism | 4,232 | 4,856 | 5,055 |
Jon Peterson | 7,407 | 8,626 | 8,674 |
Total | 69,720 | 86,716 | 148,374 |
Source: Reports Portal, ODE, Private Education/ Scholarships
Removing eligibility limits resulted in an exponential increase in EdChoice Expansion voucher applications and awards. In February of 2024, the total number of new vouchers awarded for the 23-24 school reached 61,658, and 59,900 of them were income-based EdChoice vouchers. EdChoice Expansion became the voucher program with the greatest use and highest price tag. While the number of income based vouchers more than tripled in one year, the Autism, Jon Peterson, and performance based EdChoice voucher experienced small increases. The Cleveland Scholarship Program lost participants.
Making vouchers available to all did not cause a mass exodus from public schools, they went to students who were already enrolled in a private school. In 2022-23 there were 169,500 students enrolled in chartered nonpublic schools. The number grew by about 2,300 students the next year but the number of new vouchers increased by nearly 62,000. The percentage of private school students whose tuition was paid with a voucher increased from 51% to 86%.
Table 3: Income-Based Vouchers Awarded by Race of Recipient FY23 and FY24
Race | Number awarded 2022-23 | Number awarded, 2023-24 | Percentage awarded of all, 2022-23 | Percentage awarded of all, 2022-23 |
White | 16,100 | 69,422 | 66.1% | 82.3% |
Black | 3,708 | 5,351 | 15.2% | 6.3% |
Hispanic | 2,095 | 3,529 | 8.6% | 4.1% |
Multiracial | 1,836 | 3,825 | 7.5% | 4.5% |
Asian | 559 | 2,102 | 2.2% | 2.5% |
American Indian | 25 | 64 | .1% | .01% |
Source: Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Reports Portal.
Note: Vouchers are awarded throughout the school year so the number can change.
Racial groups did not benefit equally from the change in access to income based vouchers. More than 53,300 of the 59,970 new EdChoice vouchers awarded in 2023-24 went to white students. They received 89% of the new scholarships compared to 82% the previous year. The share of scholarships going to every other racial group except Asian students decreased.
Table 4: Scholarship Payments by Program (in millions), FY 22 and FY 23 and Estimated FY 24 and FY 25
Program | FY22 | FY 23 | F24 | FY25 |
EdChoice Expansion | $102.9 | $121.3 | $397.8 | $439.1 |
EdChoice | $212.5 | $228.2 | $276.6 | $299.0 |
Cleveland | $ 46.0 | $ 45.0 | $ 54.0 | $ 55.4 |
Autism | $116.5 | $122.4 | $ 135.5 | $142.3 |
John Peterson | $ 76.6 | $ 77.9 | $100.6 | $115.1 |
Total | $557. 5 | $594.85 | $964.5 | $1005.0 |
Sources: Legislative Budget Office of the Legislative Service Commission, Greenbook, Main Operating Budget: Final Budget:HB 33, 135th General Assembly, Department of Education and Workforce. The same document was also produced for HB 110 the operating budget approved by 134th General Assembly. www.lsc.ohio.gov/budget/135/hb33134th
State spending on private school tuition grew dramatically, following changes in access and scholarship funding levels. In only four years, overall spending on vouchers grew from $557.5 million, to a projected $1.05 billion in FY 25. The EdChoice Expansion program has mushroomed from $102.9 million in FY 22 to $439.1 million in FY 25.
Ohio’s Private Schools
Ohio has two categories of private schools: chartered nonpublic schools and non-chartered nonpublic schools. Chartered nonpublic schools are the only private schools that are eligible to receive public funds. They are eligible to participate in Ohio’s voucher programs, and to receive state funds for Auxiliary Services and Administrative costs. In FY 24 the state recognized 714 chartered nonpublic schools.
While only chartered nonpublic schools are eligible to receive vouchers, schools are not required to participate in the programs. In FY 23 there were 543 schools that accepted EdChoice vouchers. That year, 320 schools accepted Autism vouchers, 484 participated in Jon Peterson Special Needs, and 65 accepted Cleveland Scholarship students. Once a student is granted a voucher, they can renew it until they leave the private school or graduate.
Private schools are not available in every Ohio community. (See Susan Kaeser's 2023 study, Where Do Ohio's Children Receive Their Education.) Most private schools are found in the 12 Ohio counties that have more than 20 private schools. There are 11 counties with no private schools and 49 more that have between 1 and 4 private schools.
According to Ohio’s Administrative Code, Rule 3301-35-09, any school that serves 15 students or offers three grade levels is eligible to apply for a charter. They must agree to offer “a general education of high quality.” Most chartered nonpublic schools earn this status by meeting accreditation standards from one of six organizations approved by the State Board of Education. A school may also apply directly to the Department of Education and Workforce.
Table 5: Accrediting Organizations
Association of Christian Schools International Catholic Conference of Ohio Ohio Jewish Communities, Inc. Lutheran Schools of Ohio Seventh Day Adventist Schools, Ohio Conference Ohio Association of Independent Schools |
Source: Legislative Service Commission: Ohio Administrative Code, Rule 3301-35-09, Chartered nonpublic schools
While public schools are part of a statewide system that is governed by local boards of education and state laws and regulations, private education is not a system but a collection of independently operated and privately governed schools. They select students and charge tuition. They differ in size, staffing level, offerings, curriculum, mission and purpose. Some exceed state standards and opportunities, while others do not meet them. The lack of regulations and common standards means it is difficult to easily compare schools and make informed decisions when making a choice.
A hallmark of private education is the lack of state regulation, and the goal of some private school organizations is to keep it that way. Private schools are different from public schools in multiple ways. Unlike public schools, private schools:
choose who attends;
may not discriminate based on race or national origin but have no other obligations to include all children including children with disabilities;
may consider religion in making hiring decisions;
need not meet a specific student-teacher ratio;
allow religion and corporal punishment;
are not evaluated based on state tests;
are not subject to sunshine laws.
When private schools receive public funds, the rules don’t change, and they are not required to be transparent about education or funding decisions. There is no accountability to taxpayers.
Private Education: The Legislature's Priority
When the 135th General Assembly approved HB33, they removed all income limits on access to an EdChoice Expansion vouchers, and made households with incomes up to 450% of poverty level eligible for the full voucher amount. This decision established that private education is a state priority that takes precedence over fully funding the public system or meeting multiple needs of children. This decision has profound consequences.
Lawmakers made private education at public expense an entitlement, even if households that were already willing and able to fund that option are the primary beneficiaries. Providing poor children an escape route from public schools is no longer the rationale for spending public funds on private education.
Taxpayers from every corner of the state now fund private education, even if it is not an option where they live and even if it takes funds away from the public schools they depend on.
Lawmakers made private education their priority for spending on children. They were much more generous with access to private education than access to child care, food, or health care. (See more from Dr. Tanesha S. Pruitt, Policy Matters Ohio, here.)
Compare these differences in income eligibility for a family of four in the state budget:
Private school vouchers | $135,000 |
Child nutrition assistance | $39,000 |
Child care | $43,500 |
Health care | $62,200 |
When lawmakers agreed to fund private education, they did not add new regulations that typically accompany public funds. The state now funds a regulated and accountable public system that everyone is entitled to use, and a collection of unregulated and unaccountable private schools that pick their students. There is no standard for evaluating or comparing private school opportunities, and private schools and public alternatives.
It remains to be seen what impact universal vouchers will have on private school participation in voucher programs, formation of new private schools, tuition costs, private school giving, and public school enrollment.
Other Proposals to Privatize Education
Ohio also has a tax-credit program that gives tax breaks to donors to private school scholarship granting organizations, or to families who homeschool their children. So far proposals to extend vouchers to nonchartered nonpublic schools, to open capital improvement funds to private schools, education savings accounts, capturing property tax revenue for private schools, and a “backpack” approach that makes every student a consumer have been discussed and some have been introduced.
Universal vouchers is not likely to end legislative interest in expanding privatizing tools.
Conclusion
Private education has always been an option in Ohio and for nearly 200 years families who opted
out of the public system that they helped to fund, accepted responsibility for funding the
alternative they preferred. This began to change in 1997 when Ohio authorized its first voucher
program.
Education choice is now a reality in Ohio. It means families have the freedom to attend a
public school that admits them, and have the public pay for it.
Privatizing education and choice have undermined the time honored commitment to the public
benefits of a public system.
Private schools, for now, continue to be unregulated. The allocation of public funds was not
accompanied by new standards for public accountability that are required of public schools and
of almost every other private entity that accepts public funds.
The LWVUS position on privatization calls for “accountability, positive community impact, and
preservation of the common good when considering the transfer of government services, assets,
and/or functions to the private sector.” The legislature has privatized education, but has not
met any of the conditions that would make this meet basic values of strong public policy.
The evolution of choice, accomplished over the last 30 years, is a financial threat to our public
system, and a profound ideological shift away from education as a public good that serves us
all. It is now a private right.
The traditional separation of church and state is gone, and the fundamental expectation that
accountability to taxpayers is a prerequisite for public funding now only applies to our public
schools.
Resources and Links
Ravitch, Diane. Reign of Error. The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.
Go here to read the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit.
Go here to watch the February 24, 2022 forum cosponsored by LWVO, Are Vouchers Legal?
Go here for national research on vouchers: Public Schooling In America
Go here here for an analysis of privatizing education, Chartered for Profit: The Hidden World of Charter Schools Operated for Financial Gain
Click here to read part 2 of Westlake Bay Village's article about private vouchers
Go here to watch the February 28, 2024 presentation cosponsored by LWVO, Ohio Public Education: The Voucher Explosion Affects Us All
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