01/23/2026
Ohio’s education system keeps getting more money poured into big government setups and school bureaucracies, instead of giving that money directly to families so they can choose what’s best for their kids.
Real change would mean:
• Giving the money to students/families (like through vouchers or scholarships that follow the child to whatever school works best—public, private, charter, homeschool, etc.).
• Letting parents pick the school or education option they think is right.
• Cutting back on too many administrators and extra office costs (so more dollars go to actual teaching).
• Trusting parents over a one-size-fits-all public school system.
Why? Because when families have choices and schools have to compete to keep students, things usually get better—schools improve to attract kids, and bad ones lose out. A monopoly (one main system with no real competition) often stays the same or gets worse.
In Ohio right now:
• The state spends a ton on K-12 education—over $13 billion in recent years, with per-student costs around $16,000+ in many places.
• A big chunk now goes to school choice programs like EdChoice (vouchers/scholarships for private schools). In 2025, Ohio spent over $1 billion on these, with about 100,000+ kids using the expanded version. It’s grown fast since becoming available to almost everyone (based on income, with bigger amounts for lower/middle-income families—up to about $6,000–$8,000 per kid depending on grade).
• Some studies show kids in these programs do better in things like college enrollment and graduation.
• But critics say too much still goes to admin overhead in public schools, and some districts feel squeezed when money follows kids elsewhere.
The idea is simple: Stop feeding a bloated system. Give families the power and the cash to decide—and let competition make schools better for everyone
Mario Innocenzi
