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Longtime Oakwood resident urges board to join lawsuit challenging EdChoice vouchers
Summary
During public comment at the July 7 meeting, resident and retired educator Lisonbee Benford asked the Oakwood Board of Education to join the "Vouchers Hurt Ohio" lawsuit, arguing the EdChoice voucher system diverts funds from public schools and citing a Franklin County judge ruling that found the system unconstitutional on multiple grounds.
At the Oakwood Board of Education meeting on July 7, 2025, resident Lisonbee Benford used the public-comment period to ask the board to consider joining the "Vouchers Hurt Ohio" lawsuit challenging Ohio's EdChoice voucher program. Benford described herself as a 34-year resident, a mother of two Oakwood graduates, and a retired public educator.
Benford told the board she had taught in multiple countries and said public education "is under attack at the federal and state level." She urged the board to act after citing a Franklin County judge's ruling that, in her telling, found the EdChoice voucher system unconstitutional "on a number of levels." "It pulls money away from our public schools," Benford said, and she asked the board to join the more than 300 Ohio school districts she said had become part of the legal challenge.
Benford framed her request as a defense of public education and said Oakwood should be a leader in that fight. The item was made during the public-comment period and no motion or board action to join the lawsuit was taken during the meeting.
