Ohio governor signs state budget expanding school choice

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state’s 2024-2025 budget Tuesday, expanding the already established school voucher program.

Under the 2024-2025 Ohio budget, private school students who are within 450% of the federal poverty level are eligible for taxpayer-funded vouchers, according to the Dayton Daily News. The $86 billion budget allots $1.5 billion to fund the state’s public schools. 

“This budget is balanced, it provides tax cuts to working families, and it invests in economic and workforce development while promoting educational freedom with the expansion of the EdChoice Scholarship,” Republican state Lt. Governor Jon Husted said in a press release. “It was also great to see our efforts to require parental notification for social media included, along with much of our work to eliminate unnecessary and outdated regulations through CSI’s [Common Sense Initiative] Innovate the Code initiative.”

The state’s current school choice program gives an average voucher of $4,972 to more than 20,000 students, according to the EdChoice Scholarship website. About 38% of Ohio families are eligible for the program, which is open to those with an annual income of no more than 250% of the federal poverty level.

The budget creates $2 billion for the voucher program, which will allow a family of four making $135,000 annually to receive up to $8,400 a year for a high school student and approximately $6,200 for a grade school student, according to the Springfield News-Sun, an Ohio-based outlet.

Second Grade Teacher Mary Alexander instructs her students at Saint Hillary School on the Hungry To Help Lesson Plan, hosted by Feeding America and Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank on May 24, 2017 in Fairlawn, Ohio. (Photo by Duane Prokop/Getty Images for Feeding America)

“I am proud to sign this budget, and while it makes historic investments in Ohioans across their lives, I believe we are doing more to support and encourage Ohio’s children to lead happy, healthy and productive lives than ever before,” DeWine said in the press release.

Across the country, lawmakers are pushing to expand their state school choice programs. In March, Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders signed a bill into law creating a universal school choice program in the 2025-2026 school year. Shortly after, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a piece of legislation creating a universal school voucher program for the state.