TL;DR: In the late 90s the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the way Ohio funds its schools is unconstitutional. The Legislature effectively ignored the decision and we still have basically the same problems.
Money intended to be used for educating children, is instead being used for…
Educating children.
If the dollars per child amount isn’t enough, raise taxes. It’s ridiculous to complain about not getting money for children you don’t have to teach.
Edit: if you want to argue that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used for religious education, or that private schools need to be held to educational standards, I completely agree. But that’s not what we’re talking about.
When I was a kid I went to a non-religious STEM School for 2 years. It was fantastic. They had all kinds of science stuff, computer programming, gifted classes. But after 2 years my parents couldn’t afford it anymore so I went back to public school. I was doing so well and learning so much. Now when I hear about voucher programs I think of myself as a kid.
I’m an adult now and my kids go to public school. I can’t afford to send them to private school. I have a passion for reading and math, and have passed that to my kids. They’re both several grade levels ahead, and their teacher is struggling with the kids who aren’t going to be able to meet grade level. It breaks my heart to see how bored and lazy they are getting at school, because same damn thing happened to me.
What private schools, and worse- home schools, are allowed to teach and not teach, is a far cry from education.
Private schools can exist, but they shouldn’t get public funding if they are teaching religion, denying evolution, forgoing sex ed, and failing to meet basic educational standards.
Money meant for public schools is going to privately schools to indoctrinate children and maintain the beliefs that those who pay the bills want them to believe.
It’s a way to take power from government funded institutions and to channel that money into Christian nationalist training camps.
“religious institutions shouldn’t get taxpayer money to teach religion” is an exceptionally valid argument. But the meat of this article is about schools being funded by enrollment. They’re saying money is being taken away from public schools, and the schools are suffering.
I’m 100% on board with separating church and state, and forbidding taxpayer funds to be used for religious indoctrination. But couching that intention in an argument about private schools stealing money from public schools is disingenuous.
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