McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman Co., LPA is proud to share a recent legal victory in which lead counsel Mark Wallach, along with McCarthy Lebit attorney Lawrence Acton, and co-counsel Miriam Fair and Alexandra C. Eckrich Marcin, Esq. of Weston Hurd, successfully represented the plaintiffs in a landmark case challenging the constitutionality of Ohio’s EdChoice school voucher program.
In a decision issued on Tuesday, June 24th, Judge Jaiza Page of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on three of the five counts in their complaint.
In this ruling, the court found that the EdChoice program violates the Ohio Constitution by creating an “uncommon” parallel school system and diverting funding from the state’s public school districts.
William Phillis, executive director of the Coalition for Adequacy and Equity of School Funding, stated, “We are pleased that the court affirmed what we have been saying all along. The EdChoice private school voucher program, which has been diverting hundreds of millions of much-needed tax dollars from public schools to private schools, is unconstitutional,” according to NBC4.com.
Ohio’s EdChoice program was launched in 2005 as a way to provide students in low-achieving districts with access to private school education. In recent years, the state broadened the program by removing income limits, enabling any student, regardless of financial ability, to use state-funded scholarships to attend private schools.
State government figures cited by Forbes show that Ohio’s taxpayer-funded voucher programs cost nearly $1 billion in 2024, a significant increase from the original cost. The court found that the program’s expansion and changes over time have carried it beyond what the Ohio Constitution allows.
The judgment will not take immediate effect, meaning payments for private schools will continue for now, as a stay allows time for the appellate process to unfold. However, it underscores concerns about the state’s voucher program.
“Judge Page’s opinion reaffirms the primacy of public schools in Ohio, which educate 85% of Ohio’s students, and which are suffering from underfunding caused by the rapidly expanding EdChoice voucher program,” stated Mark Wallach.
Despite the state’s announcement of plans to appeal, this ruling marks a significant step forward in the broader legal effort to protect equitable public education funding across the state of Ohio.
To read more about this case, follow the links below:
“Judge rules Ohio’s EdChoice private school voucher program unconstitutional,” Cleveland.com
“Ohio Court Strikes Down State School Voucher Program,” Forbes
“Judge rules Ohio EdChoice program is unconstitutional,” NBC4.com