Schools lawsuit: Ohio pupil voucher system unconstitutional

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s 25-year-old school voucher plan is creating an unconstitutional system of separately funded private education and leading to resegregation of some districts as nonminority students mostly take advantage of the program, according to a lawsuit challenging the system.

The EdChoice Program is depleting state funding meant to help struggling districts, and in many cases provides more money in voucher scholarships to districts than they receive in state assistance, said the lawsuit filed Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

In turn, many of the private schools attended by voucher students aren’t subject to state regulation and, unlike public schools, can base attendance on students’ intellectual capacity, athletic skills or religious faith, the lawsuit said.

The Ohio Constitution calls for a system of common schools, with standards and resources for all Ohioans, said Eric Brown, a member of the Columbus school board and a former Democratic chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

“Funding schools that aren’t for everybody is not the business of the Ohio General Assembly, and it is not the responsibility of Ohio taxpayers to pay for these private schools,” Brown said Tuesday.

https://www.wcpo.com/news/government/state-government/ohio-state-government-news/schools-lawsuit-ohio-pupil-voucher-system-unconstitutional