COLUMBUS, Ohio—On Tuesday, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas ruled that Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarship program is unconstitutional. Five families who benefit from the program, represented by the Partnership for Educational Choice—a joint venture of the Institute for Justice (IJ) and EdChoice Legal Advocates—will appeal this decision. The program will remain operational while the case is pending.  

“We remain confident that the higher courts will understand that families have a constitutional right to direct the education of their children,” said IJ Attorney Keith Neely. “In the meantime, parents should rest assured that they will not suddenly lose the scholarship funds from this program.”   

The Educational Choice Scholarship Program, also known as the EdChoice Program, was enacted in 2005 and offers scholarships to K-12 students assigned to lower-performing public schools. In this “Traditional Program,” students receive scholarships valued at up to $6,166 at the K-8 level and up to $8,408 at the high school level. In addition, if the child’s family is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, participating schools must accept the scholarship amount as payment in full for tuition. 

In 2013, the Ohio legislature created a second part of this program, called the “Expansion Program,” which provides scholarships to K-12 students. The maximum scholarship values for this program are identical to those of the Traditional Program but scale based on their family’s income. More than 100,000 Ohio families receive scholarships through either the Traditional Program or the Expansion Program. The public schools filed their lawsuit challenging the program’s constitutionality in 2022. 

Two of the families defending the program—the Boggs family and the Ellis family—enroll their children in the Traditional Program and have seen them make great strides academically. The same goes for the Omelsky family and the Highley family, whose children participate in the Expansion Program. 

“This program has been a gamechanger for my children, giving them the opportunity to thrive in schools that meet their specific needs,” said Brian Ellis. “I certainly hope the higher courts will overturn today’s ruling, or families like mine will lose the ability to afford a good education.”  

Over the course of the lawsuit, the public school plaintiffs have alleged that the program hurts traditional public schools and creates more racial segregation. However, the data show the opposite is true.  

“This program has benefitted countless Ohio school children and the fears that opponents have raised have been disproven time and again,” said EdChoice Legal Advocates Director of Litigation Thomas M. Fisher. “We remain committed to defending this program, so that every Ohio student can succeed.” 

EdChoice Legal Advocates is not affiliated with the EdChoice Program.