Ohio is funding private religious schools with taxpayer money to help them expand and renovate their campuses through a voucher scheme, a movement that is almost unprecedented in modern U.S. history.
The move, first reported by ProPublica, will allow the state to provide millions of dollars in grants directly to religious schools, thanks to a bill passed by its Legislature this summer. The bill aims to increase the capacity of religious schools so they can absorb more voucher students, according to Ohio Senate president Matt Huffman.
Different critics and experts consulted by ProPublica argued the move is “new, dangerous, ground,” and that the move could hurt public schools.
In response, more than 140 Ohio school districts formed the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy for School Funding, launching the “Vouchers Hurt Ohio” campaign to challenge the expansion.
“We have tried to explain how vouchers hurt Ohio, but legislative leaders are doubling down and expanding the private school voucher program,” the coalition said in a statement. They added that they plan to bring their argument before the state’s Supreme Court that the voucher program is “hurting our kids, our schools, parents, educators, businesses, our communities and all of us.”
David Pepper, a political writer and former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party told ProPublica that the move could violate the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. He also warned that the policy could spread to other parts of the country.
“This will happen in other states — they all learn from each other like laboratories,” he said.
In Texas, passing a voucher program is a top priority for Gov. Greg Abbott. He spent considerable time and money targeting Republicans who voted against the measure in the last legislative session, and succeeded in ousting several incumbents in primary elections. He also said he now has the numbers to pass a voucher proposal in the next legislative session.
In addition, other Republicans have pushed for religious instruction, even in public schools. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has pushed for a bill requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, while new public school curricula unveiled by the Texas Education Agency have been criticized for including Bible lessons.
