Ohio Voucher Program

Despite no credible evidence of academic achievement in the Cleveland voucher program, the Ohio legislation has enacted three additional statewide voucher programs since. The first, enacted in 2003, is a small program targeted to children with autism (Autism Scholarship Program). The second, enacted in 2005 (Educational Choice Scholarship Program or EdChoice), is targeted to students who attend public schools that are in Academic Watch or Emergency in the state's rating system with the vouchers worth between $4,250 for students in grades K-8 and $5,000 for students in grades 9-12.

In June 2011, Gov. John Kasich enacted, through the budget, a new voucher program, the “Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship,” which provides vouchers to students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the 2012-2013 school year. In addition, the budget also increased the number of vouchers for EdChoice during the next two years, and expanded the eligibility. The amounts of vouchers also increased for the Cleveland program, whose eligibility was expanded to include all grades, as opposed to entering grades K-8 previously.