Last year, Ohio expanded its school voucher program so that all families, regardless of income, can apply for private school scholarships. Now, the state is taking it a step further.
A recent ProPublica investigation found that the state legislature is giving around $4 million in taxpayer dollars to religious private schools in Ohio for renovations and expansions.
A quarter of a million dollars is going to Temple Christian in Allen County to expand its building, after growth in demand for admission. Mansfield Christian Academy received more than a million dollars to add classrooms and cafeteria space. St. Mary School in Geauga County is set to receive $4,000 for playground equipment.
The One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund (OTSCIF), passed in June, provided more than $700 million in funding to various organizations, including fire stations, public schools, medical facilities, churches and nonprofits. Ohio Senate majority spokesperson John Fortney said the characterization of this funding as grants is “laughable” and “a lie that the left is using to yet again vilify parents who send their students to a school of their choice.”
“It was simply a one-time fund that communities and organizations could apply to for help funding projects which would not otherwise qualify for the normal Capital Budget process. Hundreds of organizations applied for funding from the $717 million fund which represented an important investment back into neighborhoods across Ohio,” Fortney said in a statement to the Ohio Newsroom.
The state received more than $4 billion in applications for the program, according to Fortney.
But, the move has sparked fear from critics of school vouchers. A national organization that advocates for the separation of church and state has now launched an investigation into whether the state’s move violates the religious freedom of taxpayers.
Member station WVXU education reporter Zack Carreon sat down with the Ohio Newsroom to explain the significance of these recent investments in nonpublic schools.
On private school expansion
“Private schools have embraced this voucher program. Students all over the state, mostly ones that are already going to private schools, have been getting these vouchers. Now, the reason why so many students actually haven’t, in the public schools, been taking these vouchers is a couple of reasons. One, private schools don't necessarily have enough classroom space to bring in thousands more kids. And in rural communities, they don't really have any private schools. So they're paying into a system where they can't take advantage of it and they can't take advantage of these vouchers.
So Greg Lawson with the [conservative think tank] the Buckeye Institute proposed something earlier this year, an idea about taking money from the state's capital budget and using it for private schools to expand their classrooms, make some renovations so they can welcome more students and potentially create some new schools in rural areas like Appalachia as well, where they don't have access to these schools and create some so they can utilize these vouchers.”
On who is receiving the funding
“This $4 million is going to less than a dozen or so private schools. So you're looking at some private high schools like St. Ed's in the Cleveland area. You're also looking at charter schools like Toledo School for the Arts that are using these to fund different programs and also do some expansions and extend their classrooms a little bit. So that's where that $4 million is going.
Now, I will say it’s $4 million out of more than $700 million in funding. And a lot of that stuff is actually going to things like fire stations, community schools or public schools, boys and girls clubs, medical facilities, those kinds of things where you would expect public dollars to go to. So it's really a small amount of money going to these private schools. But certainly this is something that we haven't really seen: public money going to private schools explicitly for these types of expansions. That's definitely new.”
On the funding model
“This is a one time funding grant for them to fund these specific projects. So this is not like a widespread thing, but certainly there are people who want to see this become a more systematic thing. When we talk about, you know, putting schools in rural areas and really expanding private schools statewide, Greg Lawson with the Buckeye Institute says it's going to have to be a systematic answer. These one-time grants might be good for these private schools, but as far as long term, there's going to be a more systematic thing if we see these private schools expand.”
On public dollars going to private schools
“It's not common. Of course, there are voucher programs, but when you look at public money going to private schools, it's in very specific circumstances. So natural disasters that damage buildings or even something like the COVID-19 pandemic where, you know, schools had to get certain supplies and certain things and make changes to their buildings to deal with the pandemic. So we've seen money go to private schools for that type of thing, but we've never seen it really happen where they're using it just to expand their classrooms and kind of build new things.”
“We haven't really seen this kind of thing in some other states, and certainly some people have called Ohio a ‘laboratory’ for the voucher program and using public money to fund private schools. A lot of things like the expansion are happening here first and then it could possibly spread to some other states.”
On what opponents are saying
“Much like the voucher program itself, they don't like it. At the end of the day, they see it as public money going to private institutions that are not held accountable to the same degree that public schools are.”
“Bill Phillis with the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding says this is going to be a slippery slope. It's $4 million right now in a one time fund, but it could expand. He said that Ohio's school voucher program started off as just a program for students in the Cleveland schools, and then it expanded into what it is today where pretty much every student in the state can get some money. So he worries that this could eventually lead to something where, much like the voucher program, it balloons and balloons and suddenly the state is spending a lot more than $4 million on these private school renovations.”
