“This was a major victory for our effort,” Vouchers Hurt Ohio, the group behind the lawsuit, said in a newsletter. “This means we will put vouchers on trial in a court of law.”
The civil lawsuit could determine whether the EdChoice program in Ohio, in use by more than 50,000 students across Ohio, is legal, though it will likely take years to wind its way through the courts system.
The final ruling could affect thousands of children and their families, who use the vouchers primarily in private, religious schools, as well as students in large districts like Dayton Public, who have been most affected by students taking EdChoice dollars to go to other schools.
Other districts affected include Jefferson Twp., Stebbins High School, Northridge schools, West Carrollton high school and middle school, and Trotwood-Madison’s high school, middle school and Westbrooke Village Elementary.
In Clark County, 10 Springfield schools have been put on the EdChoice list. In Butler County, 12 schools from Middletown and Hamilton, as well as New Miami High School, are on the list.
State’s argument
Ohio argued in a legal document back in May that the coalition of schools, students and organizations suing the state didn’t have legal standing to file the lawsuit.
The main argument from the state was that the vouchers system has already been argued out in court. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Cleveland’s voucher system, which was limited to students in Cleveland public schools from kindergarten through third grade, was constitutional.
The state also argued in part that students do not have the legal basis to sue because they could not prove injury.
Judge’s response
Page said in the decision that while the Cleveland decision has been made, it does not encompass the EdChoice voucher system as it is now.
Since 2002, the EdChoice voucher system has expanded beyond Cleveland, to districts across the state, and to families outside those districts within certain income limits, which generally includes families on food stamps or Medicaid.
Page ruled the voucher system in the 2002 case was clearly different from the way the EdChoice system works now.
Page also ruled students could sue, noting that students could show harm, including potentially in “overcrowded facilities, inadequate materials, and are educated in districts with insufficient learning supports.”
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