Dear STVM Parents & Guardians,

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has issued a summary statement regarding the EdChoice Circuit Court Decision. We are sharing the statement below in its entirety to ensure our families have access to the information and can review it firsthand.

Despite the Appeals Court ruling, all EdChoice scholarships remain fully intact for the 2026-2027 school year and will continue pending the Ohio Supreme Court's review and final decision.

An Ohio Appeals Court has affirmed a lower court decision that ruled the EdChoice program unconstitutional. Despite this ruling, the EdChoice program remains in place as the case proceeds to the Ohio Supreme Court. Attorneys defending the EdChoice program are very confident that the constitutionality of the program will prevail at the Ohio Supreme Court. No changes in scholarships will occur during the current school year.

Important Facts:

Previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings support school choice programs.  

• In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Cleveland Scholarship Program, Ohio’s original school choice program, in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.  
• To date, 34 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have established and/or expanded school choice programs.  

EdChoice scholarships do not divert funding from public schools.  

• EdChoice scholarship funding is separate from public-school funding, which is in the sixth year of a six-year phase-in of the “Fair School Funding” plan, a bipartisan inputs-based model delivering more funding to public schools than ever.  
• If legislators choose not to fund EdChoice scholarships in the future, public schools would not automatically receive an equivalent increase in their budgets. 
• While the Ohio Constitution requires a “thorough and efficient system of common schools,” it does not prevent the state from providing parents with educational options and financial assistance.  

Parents—not schools—control EdChoice scholarships.  

• Scholarships are awarded to parents, who may use them at any chartered nonpublic school that agree to be providers and accept the accompanying accountability measures.  
• If a student leaves a chartered nonpublic school, the school does not retain the scholarship funds.  
• A robust system of educational options is good, pro-family public policy.

Catholic school parents contribute to the same tax base as parents whose children attend public schools.  

• Catholic school families pay federal, state, and local income taxes, as well as property taxes, just as public-school families do. 
• Approximately two thirds of property taxes go only to local public districts. 
• State scholarships and the state share of general public education funding in Ohio are supported by a combination of state revenue, primarily from state taxes (including income and sales tax), as well various dedicated funds, such as Ohio lottery profits.

State scholarships are efficient for Ohio taxpayers.   

• The average cost to educate a public-school student in Ohio was $17,609 in 2025-26.  
• The average EdChoice Scholarship is $5,470 across the Expansion, Traditional, and Cleveland programs.  
• The wealthiest scholarship recipients account for 17% of applications but receive only 3% of the funds, with individual scholarships averaging $616 for K–8 students and $840 for high school students.  
• When Auxiliary Services funding ($910 per student) and Administrative Cost Reimbursement ($410 per student) are included, the total average state assistance for chartered nonpublic students is approximately $6,808 per student.  
• If all EdChoice scholarship students were to enroll in public schools, state and local school districts would need to spend significantly more to educate these additional students.  

Catholic schools comply with state chartering requirements.  

• Requirements include teacher licensure, compliance with state operating standards, state audits, and approved testing.  
• All (arch)diocesan Catholic schools are accredited through the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association.  
• Schools that choose to become providers to any of Ohio’s state scholarships, such as EdChoice, agree to accountability measures such as administering state-mandated assessments to every student on scholarship and reporting the scores annually for publication on the ODEW website, caps on tuition according to household income, and reporting of tuition and fees.  

Catholic schools in Ohio are ethnically and racially diverse.  

• Statewide, Catholic schools enroll, on average, a similar percentage of African American students as public schools and an even higher percentage of Hispanic students. 

We hope this helps provide clarity to our STVM families regarding the EdChoice Circuit Court Decision.

Sincerely,

Dave Vitatoe

President, St. Vincent–St. Mary High School

Erin Faetanini

Principal, St. Vincent–St. Mary High School