Ohio House Republicans want universal eligibility for school vouchers

On May 6, 2021

Any Ohio kid would be eligible for a voucher to cover part of the cost of their private school tuition if a bill introduced by House Republicans becomes law.

“The intent of this bill is if you think it’s a better option to look at alternative education for your children, you would have state funding available to pursue that goal,” bill sponsor Rep. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, said.

It’s called the backpack method of school funding because the money follows the student wherever he or she goes. And Ohio would be just the second state to adopt a universal voucher program if House Bill 290 became law.

West Virginia passed a similar program in March. It’s scheduled to start in the fall of 2022 and has the potential to apply to children who currently attend private schools later down the road.

McClain said West Virginia is a good example for Ohio to look at, but who he really wants to hear from are educators in Ohio. That’s why the bill is only two pages long. It’s a “legislative intent bill.” Its purpose is not to lay out a specific plan but spark conversations about universal vouchers.

And it has.

Longtime school choice advocates like the Center for Christian Virtue praised the bill as a great way to expand educational opportunities in Ohio.

“We want the money to follow the child,” CCV President Aaron Baer said. “If that child ultimately decided to opt-out of the public school system, their state dollars should follow that kid wherever they go.”

But Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro called the idea “disastrous for Ohio’s children.”

He pointed to a 2020 investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer that found students using vouchers, called EdChoice Scholarships, for private schools weren’t performing as well as some of their public school counterparts.

“Private schools do not do a better job than public schools in educating kids,” DiMauro said.

But that’s not always the case, McClain said. And he thinks kids should have the option to explore other options even if they ultimately return to public school.

“Even in my own children who are raised in the same house, I see academic differences in them where they may benefit from different programs,” he said.

McClain didn’t put a number on how much students would get toward their private school tuition. Ohio currently pays about $4,500 for elementary and middle school vouchers and $6,000 for high school scholarships.

“I think all options are on the table,” McClain said. “We’re looking at the EdChoice dollar amount. We’re looking at the actual cost to educate a child, and we’re looking at the dollars we have available … We want to make it effective, but at the same we want it to be reasonable.”

Opponents say all options are on the table for them too, including challenging the constitutionality of a universal voucher program.

Bill Phillis, executive director for the Coalition for Equity & Adequacy in School Funding, is already planning to sue the state over its current school voucher programs. His argument is that Ohio has a constitutional commitment to fund a “thorough and adequate” system of public schools.

“That bill is totally antithetical to the legislature’s responsibility for public education,” Phillis said. “It’s an affront to the constitution of the state of Ohio.”

HB 290 was dropped in the middle of negotiations over the state budget. McClain said that was intentional. He wants the concept to be part of the conversations around school funding.

The Ohio House completely rewrote the way the state funds public education when it passed its budget bill. The Ohio Senate has yet to introduce its plan.

Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, a longtime supporter of Ohio’s school voucher programs, said he’s not sure how universal vouchers would work “in a complex state like Ohio that has multiple school choice programs.” But he welcomed the conversation.

“I’m happy to see it introduced because ultimately I think … education in Ohio needs to be student or user based instead and not institution based,” Huffman said. “And that’s what the universal voucher speaks to.”