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Voucher debate: advocates call out budget “slip‑ins”; Catholic and independent schools seek DPIA access
Summary
Teachers’ groups, private‑school advocates and parents debated whether voucher and ESA provisions belong inside an omnibus budget; Catholic and independent school leaders also asked the Senate to extend Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid eligibility to nonpublic students.
A range of witnesses told the Senate Education Committee they oppose embedding private‑school voucher or Education Savings Account (ESA) provisions in omnibus budget bills and urged open, standalone legislative debate. At the same time, leaders from Catholic and independent schools asked the committee to extend Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) to nonpublic students and warned that changes to school choice policy affect low‑income families and school operations.
Paul Palumba, president of a professional educators association, criticized “the persistent and frankly cynical practice of embedding private voucher programs into sweeping budget bills rather than putting them before the public through a standalone legislative process.” He argued that voucher line items are used to circumvent public debate and accountability.
Representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and other private‑school networks asked the committee to extend DPIA — a funding stream for services that support disadvantaged students — to eligible students enrolled in nonpublic schools and to consider the impact on their schools’ student populations. They cited outreach and enrollment growth among lower‑income families and asked for parity in access to targeted supports.
At the same time, witnesses representing non‑chartered, non‑tax private schools and parents asked for continued or expanded access to school choice options. Legal and policy witnesses told senators such expansions raise constitutional and statutory questions — for example, how non‑chartered/non‑tax status intersects with public funding and oversight.
Why it matters: the scope and placement of voucher/ESA provisions in the budget will affect who can access state funds and under what conditions. Extension of DPIA to nonpublic students (or ESA eligibility) would move state dollars to additional providers and requires policy choices about accountability, student‑eligibility definitions and constitutional limits.
What’s next: committee members heard contrasting views; no vote occurred. Lawmakers will consider amendments, the scope of DPIA eligibility and whether voucher/ESA provisions remain bundled in the budget.
