It was a U-S Supreme court decision that supported a city voucher program in Cleveland that opened the legal door nationwide to using taxpayer dollars on private religious schools. In a policy brief on voucher programs, Katherine Cerniak, Molly Stewart, and Anne-Maree Ruddy looked at Ohio, Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Indiana because those states had broad, statewide programs. Now, Stewart says, even with a proliferation of charter schools voucher programs have only grown.
“Enrollment is increasing, the caps are being eliminated, the income eligibility is moving towards allowing more middle class families to participate. There is also the accountability shift and growth in terms of accountability requirements for these programs. “
By accountability, Stewart means private schools now must meet accreditation and other standards to receive voucher support.
In Ohio the number of vouchers skyrocketed from 14, 000 in 2010 to 60,000 today. Governor Kasich proposes raising the high school voucher value to $5700 next year.