The Truth About EdChoice
Discussions about Ohio’s school funding, tax policies and school choice scholarships often generate strong opinions. Amid competing claims about fairness, including accusations that Ohio has reduced its investment in public education, it is important to focus on the facts.
Discussions about Ohio’s school funding, tax policies and school choice scholarships often generate strong opinions. Amid competing claims about fairness, including accusations that Ohio has reduced its investment in public education, it is important to focus on the facts.
According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, “the state of Ohio spent more on primary and secondary education than at any other time in state history” during the most recent fiscal year. This reflects a 24.9% increase in state appropriations over the six years of implementing the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan. State funding has grown from $12.2 billion in fiscal year 2021 to $15.3 billion this year. Combined with increasing local property tax revenues that support traditional public schools, total K-12 spending reached $32.8 billion in fiscal year 2024, the most recent year for which combined data is available.
At the same time, Ohio’s student population continues to decline. Some districts attribute operating challenges to competition from school choice rather than to these long-term demographic trends. A lawsuit funded by numerous public school districts is before Ohio courts, challenging the EdChoice scholarship program and the state’s ability to support parents in any educational options beyond public schools.
Ohio’s bishops support adequate funding for education, including both traditional public schools and parent-directed school choice. In fact, more baptized Catholics in Ohio attend public schools than Catholic schools. The Church has long encouraged public support for education as a matter of distributive justice, recognizing parents as the primary educators of their children and affirming their right to choose schools consistent with their consciences.
State scholarship programs, funded separately from the public school funding formula, provide significant value to Ohio taxpayers. The EdChoice Expansion Scholarship, available to all Ohio families on a sliding scale, ranges from $616 to $8,408. In fiscal year 2025, it served 100,941 students with an average scholarship of $4,958 per pupil. By comparison, district schools spent an average of $17,609 per pupil for 1,465,041 students.
Pope Leo XIV has called for “courage in ensuring access for the poorest, in supporting fragile families, (and) in promoting scholarships and inclusive policies.”
When evaluating claims about educational funding and school choice, residents can review the facts in their own districts by clicking here.
Frank O’Linn is the secretary of education and superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
