Ohio’s school voucher program, known as the EdChoice Scholarship, was pitched three decades ago as a pathway to give families in struggling public school districts more education options.
Fast forward to last school year. About 3,400 children in Akron used an EdChoice scholarship to attend a private school — at a funding loss of millions to Akron Public Schools. These Akron families joined more than 143,000 students across the state whose families decided this educational opportunity was best for their children.
EdChoice has been blamed for unfair public school funding and costly demands made of schools that educate the bulk of Ohio’s children. Its proponents, meanwhile, say it gives families options and boosts public schools’ performance through increased competition.
The program is at the center of heated political debates and lawsuits — the most recent a 2022 lawsuit filed by a coalition of public schools claiming Ohio’s near-universal voucher program is a violation of the state’s Constitution. A hearing is scheduled May 12 in Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals.
As the courts debate the role of vouchers in public education, how do Ohio parents decide the best way to educate their children?
Who is eligible for school vouchers in Akron?
In Summit County, 32 schools accept EdChoice vouchers, according to the state, including schools operated by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
During the 2025-26 school year, the full scholarship amount for children was:
- $6,166: Kindergarten through eighth grade
- $8,408: High schoolers
Just because the option is open to families across the state does not mean every student will receive the full voucher amount.
Families earning beyond 450 percent of the federal poverty level received less, bottoming out at $616 for elementary and middle schoolers and $840 for high schoolers for families earning 785 percent of the federal poverty level.
For families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty, private schools must take the full voucher amount and not charge them any additional tuition, said Beth Lawson, School Choice Ohio’s director of media and communication. That means private schools must fundraise or supplement their finances elsewhere.
She added that private schools “are not getting rich” off the program.
How can families apply for vouchers?
Families interested in taking advantage of EdChoice or other voucher opportunities may apply between Feb. 1 and June 30. Applicants must be accepted to the nonpublic school of their choice before a family can request a scholarship from the state.
Scholarships may be renewed until a child graduates, so long as they do not have more than 20 unexcused absences in a school year and take all required tests for each grade level, according to the state.
If a scholarship does not cover a school’s full tuition, families may be required to pay the difference.
Families interested in a school voucher program can access the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce Parent Portal for more information and to apply.
Lawson said parents have control over what works best for their children.
“I’ve seen kids shine in every option,” she said. “These are the people that are going to be running the country when I’m old. I want a very well-educated generation of students, and it might mean something different for each student. I just don’t think there’s one mold for everybody.”
Where did school vouchers start in Ohio?
Ohio’s school voucher system started in Cleveland.
Cleveland City Council Member Fannie Lewis began a push for school choice in Cleveland Metropolitan Schools as the large urban district struggled to educate its 74,000 students in aging buildings.
From meetings held in church basements, the Hough neighborhood representative’s push gained steam and garnered Republican Gov. George Voinovich’s support. In 1995, The Cleveland Scholarship was included as a $5.5 million pilot program in the state’s budget.
The EdChoice voucher program opened to other districts in Ohio with the 2006-07 school year. It initially targeted schools that were consistently low-performing academically according to state report cards.
In 2013, Ohio’s EdChoice Expansion opened the opportunity to families based on income, not just school performance.
In the years and state budget cycles since, legislators have increased funding for and expanded the EdChoice program. The most recent iteration makes it a nearly universal option for families regardless of their income or the performance of the public district where they live.
Vouchers cost Ohio taxpayers $2.4 billion
While the original EdChoice program was available to families who earned up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (about $64,300 for a family of four), a major expansion in 2023 gave the option to those earning up to 450 percent (about $144,000 for a family of four).
Families earning up to 785 percent of the federal poverty level (about $252,300 for a family of four) are able to receive a prorated amount.
Since then, the amount the state spends on vouchers has ballooned while its funding for public schools has shrunk, Policy Matters Ohio’s budget researcher Madelaine Matej MacQueen said.
“Overall, I think the voucher program has just gone too far with everything,” Matej MacQueen said. “It’s no longer for low-income students, it’s no longer for students from districts who are struggling – it is mostly for families who never gave public school a chance.”
For the 2026-27 state budget cycle, Ohio allocated $2.4 billion to its voucher programs while reducing its spending on public school funding by about $2.75 billion, she said. That reduction for public schools was through a change in the funding formula that, in part, kept schools funded based on 2022 inputs.
In fiscal year 2025, Ohio spent more than $770 million on EdChoice and EdChoice expansion scholarships for more than 143,000 students — up from $92 million for about 22,600 students a decade prior, according to data from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
Summit County saw more than $45 million funneled to its nonpublic schools for the education of about 8,500 students in fiscal year 2025.
Lawson, with School Choice Ohio, disputed the allegation that vouchers siphon money from public districts, arguing if scholarship programs disappeared next week, public schools would not get another dime in state funds without a change in the funding formula itself.
APS feels enrollment, budget crunch
Akron Public Schools did not receive per-pupil state funding for the 3,400 Akron students who used an EdChoice scholarship for the 2024-25 school year, but that does not mean it was not responsible for serving some of those children — including by providing transportation.
For APS, that meant transporting about 865 nonpublic school students more than 1,200 daily miles last year on private schools’ schedules.
Last year, APS brought in $11.4 million in transportation revenue, Superintendent Mary Outley said during a public education forum April 21. That same year, it spent $19.4 million on student transportation — an $8 million budget shortfall it had to absorb in the midst of cutting millions from its budget to remain financially solvent.
If a public school drops a child attending a private school off too early in the morning or picks them up too late in the afternoon, it can incur fines from the state, so they must adjust to private school schedules they have no control over and that don’t match their own.
“We succumb to mandates, but we’re not allowed to issue them,” Outley said during that meeting.
What other voucher programs are there?
Outside the traditional EdChoice scholarship, Ohio offers funding for children with special needs to attend schools other than their public option.
- Established in 2012, the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship provides funds to students ages 3 to 21 who have an individualized education plan with their district. Award amounts for this scholarship vary according to the child’s disability and needs, up to approximately $32,000.
- The state’s Autism Scholarship provides students with autism the option to attend a nonpublic school or other service provider as outlined in the child’s education plan. The amount of this scholarship also varies, up to approximately $32,000.
For fiscal year 2025, 190 students who live in Akron used an Autism Scholarship to attend another school and 201 students utilized the Jon Peterson Scholarship, according to state data.
