Appeals Court Says EdChoice is Unconstitutional

Vouchers were hailed as a way low-income parents could afford to 'choose' better (private) schools for their kids. The underlying idea was pitched to help  families whose local schools might be sub par. 

But the GOP legislature has developed and enhanced the plan. Now, even upper income parents can get vouchers to supplement their tuition. The outcome is been that lower income parents can't afford the self-pay portion even with a voucher. Higher income parents got a little 'rebate' of what they were already paying in private tuition. And many private schools raised their fees, because, well, they could and still not lose students.

There are rural areas without private schools that parents could 'choose' instead of public, if they wanted to. Without adequate aid from the state budget, they'll have to raise local taxes to keep their schools going.

As this article notes, over 300 Ohio public school districts have signed onto the lawsuit which the appeals court has just upheld. But EdChoice is expected to win when it's appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court (currently 6-1 Republican).

And the kids the GOP legislators said would be helped if they could only get vouchers are still going to underfunded Ohio public schools.