The voucher cost estimate projects an increased number of voucher students each year.
At this point in the process, the budget is not finalized. It is a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine for how Ohio would be funded in fiscal year 2026 (July 2025-June 2026) and fiscal year 2027 (July 2026-June 2027).
Other pieces of the budget included a refundable child tax credit and a continued scholarship for Ohio’s top high school students to go to in-state universities.
What’s the breakdown?
While private school enrollment in the state has risen since 2020 by roughly 9%, less than 200,000 students are enrolled in Ohio’s private schools in 2025. By contrast, 1.48 million kids are enrolled in Ohio’s traditional public schools, more than eight times as many private school students, despite a 4.3% drop in traditional enrollment statewide between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024, according to Ohio Department of Education and Workforce data.
Ohio schools pay for services with a combination of state and local dollars. The state determines how much it thinks schools should be given based on a complicated formula which partly includes how much wealth is within a district. So, a district like Oakwood is given less per student than a district like Northridge.
The average percentage of state share, or the amount of money the state is expected to give the school districts, is expected to decrease in this period from about 38% in the current fiscal year to about 32% by fiscal year 2027.
“There’s only three school districts whose state share went up in FY 26 and there aren’t any whose state share went up in FY 27, so that’s got to be what’s responsible for these losses of funding,” said Howard Fleeter, an economist who studies Ohio’s public school funding system at the Ohio Education Policy Institute.
Multiple districts, including some local districts that have already struggled to pass school levies, would lose out on funding. Very few school districts would see an increase in public school funding in the first fiscal year, while no school districts would see an increase in the second fiscal year.
Some of the local districts that would see decreases in the percentage of state funding they’d get include Fairborn, Xenia, Kettering, Brookville, Huber Heights, Bethel Local, Vandalia, Dayton, Oakwood, Trotwood-Madison, and Valley View, plus many others.
Two large suburban districts, Beavercreek and Centerville, would not see reductions to their funding percentages but both districts are anticipated to see funding cuts in the biennium.
What does the governor say?
DeWine said when his version of the budget was announced it was meant to support children and families.
Dan Tierney, DeWine’s press secretary, said the budget proposal for K-12 schools is guided by the principle that the state budget should be funding students versus “empty desks.”
“The analysis by bucket, by nature, focuses on administrative entities over where students and their parents choose to obtain an education. Overall, when all students are included, education funding is increased,” Tierney said.
Tierney said the changes reflect student population movement among different types of schools, and dollar changes can’t be compared directly. Districts are proposed to maintain at least 90% of the baseline funding under the proposal, he said.
He said the previously adopted funding formula, Cupp-Patterson, is designed to reduce the state share when property tax revenue increases.
“Due to the increase in property values across Ohio, Cupp-Patterson is designed to reduce state payments in such a scenario, even when the formula is fully funded, as it is in the Governor’s proposal,” Tierney said.
Vouchers pushed by top lawmakers
In 2023, the state opened vouchers up to all students in Ohio. Any Ohioan who makes up to 450% of the poverty line — $150,000 for a family of four — is eligible for a full EdChoice Expansion Scholarship. Ohio families who make more than that are eligible for at least 10% of the scholarship.
The EdChoice scholarship amount is $6,166 for grades K-8 and $8,408 for grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
Matt Huffman, the Ohio House Speaker, suggested earlier this year that more cuts to public schools would need to be made and more money should be spent on private schools.
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