NEWS RELEASE
Heights Coalition for Public Education Submits Brief in Support of Voucher Challenge
Cleveland Heights. On July 1, 2022, the Heights Coalition for Public Education filed an amicus brief (link here for the filed brief) in Franklin County Common Pleas Court that supports plaintiffs in the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit. The brief asks the court not to dismiss the case as requested by State defendants.
The Heights Coalition argued that the Plaintiffs’ Complaint “painstakingly sets forth justiciable claims and raises important issues about the State of Ohio’s expanded voucher program… This case should not be short-circuited on either a Motion to Dismiss or Judgement on the Pleadings, as sought by Defendants and Intervenors.”
Public Education Partners and Northeast Ohio Friends of Public Education, both grassroots public school advocacy groups, joined the brief as co-amici.
The Heights Coalition for Public Education is an all-volunteer civic group devoted to public education, a fundamental responsibility of state government enshrined in every state constitution. It was founded in 2014 by public school supporters in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights (CH-UH) City School District. The Coalition encourages public awareness and understanding of the effects of state policies on public education, and frequently works in conjunction with organizations from across the state.
More than 100 Ohio school districts and the Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding filed suit on January 4, 2022, challenging the Constitutionality of Ohio’s two largest voucher programs. The CH-UH City School District is a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Coalition’s interest in the litigation comes from the harm the Heights community along with many other school districts have experienced due to voucher policies, and its commitment to public education as a resource for the residents of every Ohio community.
The litigation, Columbus City School District, et al. v. State of Ohio et.al, challenges the Constitutionality of state-funded EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion vouchers. State legislation has consistently expanded the scope, scale and cost of vouchers since 1995 when it initiated a pilot program for children enrolled in the Cleveland Public Schools to be able to use state education funds to pay for private school tuition. EdChoice vouchers are available in 87 school districts, and EdChoice Expansion vouchers are available in all 610 school districts.
The Coalition’s brief describes the negative impact of unfettered growth of vouchers on the community served by the Cleveland Heights – University Heights City School District. EdChoice vouchers resulted both in lost education opportunities for public school children, and an increase in the tax burden for residents of that community. This combination makes it difficult for the state’s school funding system to provide adequate and equitable funding for the public system of education, as required by the Ohio Constitution.
The brief further argues that Ohio’s current, expansive voucher program unconstitutionally provides preferential treatment to private schools over public schools, as shown by the fact that the amount the State provides for each private school voucher greatly exceeds the per pupil funding provided for public school students in many districts, including the CH-UH City School District.
Though the Ohio Legislature approved a state budget for the 2022-23 biennium that included a school funding formula based on the actual cost of educating children, the legislature failed to fully invest in the plan. Lawmakers chose instead to increase the state’s investment in private education, leaving communities without relief from funding lost to vouchers.
If the Court allows the case to proceed to trial, the litigation is expected to take at least two more years. The final arbiter will likely be Ohio’s Supreme Court.
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