Major Legal Blow to School Vouchers: Ohio Court Rules EdChoice Unconstitutional

The 10th District Court of Appeals in Ohio unanimously ruled on October 15, 2026, that the EdChoice private school voucher system is unconstitutional. The decision was delivered by a three-judge panel consisting of Judge David Leland, who authored the unanimous opinion, Judge Kristin Boggs, and Judge Shawn Dingus. All three judges are registered Democrats.

This appellate ruling affirmed a lower-court decision from June 2025 issued by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page, who originally declared the program unconstitutional.

The judges concluded that the EdChoice program violates the Ohio Constitution's mandate to maintain a single "thorough and efficient system of common schools". They found that it effectively uses taxpayer funds to build a competing, unregulated system of "uncommon" private schools that can selectively choose which students to admit.

The state is expected to appeal the 10th District's voucher ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court next.

Public education groups and teachers' unions were celebrating the court's decision in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, October 16, 2026.

The All in For Ohio Kids Coalition, a prominent pro-public education group that includes 3 primary teachers' unions, enthusiastically praised the decision. Public school advocates and teachers celebrated because they argued the voucher system was unconstitutionally defunding public "common schools" to support a competing, less-regulated private system.

In statements following the ruling, the coalition urged state legislators to return to the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan (see below) to properly fund the state's public schools.

Despite the legal victory for teachers, the program remains active for the time being. The appellate panel placed a stay on its decision, allowing the voucher program to continue uninterrupted while Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson appeals the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.

What is The Fair School Funding Plan

Initially known as the Cupp-Patterson Plan, it is a landmark bipartisan school financing system in Ohio. Signed into law on July 1, 2021, as part of House Bill 110, the legislation aimed to completely overhaul Ohio's broken K-12 education funding formula.

The plan was designed to solve a decades-long crisis dating back to the 1997 DeRolph v. State Supreme Court decision, which ruled Ohio's heavy reliance on local property taxes unconstitutional.

How the Formula Works (Inputs-based model)

True Base Cost: Calculates the actual cost of educating a student by evaluating real-world operational costs, including employee salaries, technology, benefits, and classroom materials.

State vs. Local Share: Rather than determining a district’s capacity based entirely on property values, the formula blends both property and income wealth. This prevents lower-income or rural communities from facing an unfair property tax burden.

Categorical Aid: Provides targeted supplemental funding for specific needs, such as special education, gifted programs, transportation, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students.

Implementation and Funding Conflict

The formula was initially structured to be phased in over six years. It successfully raised the base per-pupil funding from $6,020 in fiscal year 2021 to $8,240 by fiscal year 2025.

However, full implementation has faced intense political battles. In the 2026–2027 state biennial budget, public school advocates and coalitions like Policy Matters Ohio and the All in for Ohio Kids Coalition noted that state lawmakers largely abandoned the final phase-in of the plan. Rather than increasing public school funding by the projected $3 billion, the legislature allocated an increase of only $283 million, opting instead to divert substantial state revenue toward expanding the state's EdChoice private school voucher program.

In October 2026, a state appeals court heavily criticized this diversion, ruling that the current funding of the EdChoice voucher program unconstitutionally undermined public schools by siphoning away the money required to fully fund the Fair School Funding Plan.

Again, the state is expected to appeal the 10th District's voucher ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.