![When a student uses an EdChoice voucher to switch from public to private school, their local public school district loses the voucher amount from their state funding. And if the state doesn’t cover the whole voucher, local tax dollars have to make up the difference. [Stephanie Jarvis / ideastream]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3613b58/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1279x674+0+0/resize/840x442!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F2%2F10%2FEdChoiceOhio.jpg)
Since 2006, Ohio has provided publicly funded vouchers for students to attend private or religious schools through a scholarship program known as EdChoice.
The program was set to dramatically expand this year because the number of schools considered under-performing, and which students would then be eligible to leave with a voucher, was set to explode. School administrators, who must cover some of the cost of departing students, said the increase would be a huge burden and that the calculation using state report cards is unfair and inconsistent.
Lawmakers in Columbus are now scrambling to make changes to EdChoice, including a proposal in the House that would eliminate the program altogether.
