New book examines costs of siphoning billions in Ohio public funding into private school vouchers
A new book, written by 12 doctoral students in Educational Leadership at Miami University and their professor, Thomas S. Poetter, exposes the issues and problems created by the EdChoice private school voucher system that is draining billions of tax dollars away from public schools and public school children.
"Our class project, this book, is a work of education policy advocacy," writes Thomas S. Poetter, Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University. "Who wins and who loses when political decisions about funding hurt broad populations and benefit only a very narrow few? Are the decisions for how we fund and care about and nurture our educational systems just, fair, equitable, and lead to stronger outcomes for all learners?"
Poetter said 12 doctoral students in Educational Leadership who took his Curriculum and Politics and Policy in the summer of 2026 were engaged in writing the various chapters of the book and addressing what he calls "the most contentious curriculum and policy issues of our time: The State of Ohio's implementation of the EdChoice Voucher Expansion funding scheme."
Right Down The Drain highlights inherent problems in the EdChoice Private School Voucher system of schools ranging from billions of dollars wasted to subsidizing wealthy families to underfunding public schools. The book also puts a spotlight on the lack of accountability and oversight, the vast amount of money going to religious schools, the turning away of students with disabilities, and the general unpopularity among the voting public dating back to 1970 of public tax dollars paying for private schools.
Read "A Look Inside to Learn More About Ohio's Damaging EdChoice Voucher Expansion Program" here.
"Right Down the Drain is not a partisan exercise; it is an audit of public assurances," said Eric S. Brown, Chair, Steering Committee, Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding and former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice, in a preface to Right Down The Drain. "I have been impressed by the rigor and dispassionate clarity of the analysis. These students have approached the data with due diligence and the logical reasoning of good researchers, effectively stripping away the rhetoric to examine Ohio’s public funding record. They have carefully documented the true cost of siphoning public dollars away from our common schools—resources that, by constitutional design, are meant to nourish the future of all children, not a select few."
Read a synopsis of each chapter in the book here.
"Those who read this book, if convinced that the EdChoice voucher scheme is an existential threat to the public common school system, may wish to join the effort to inform others about the EdChoice voucher threat," said William L. Phillis, Consultant for the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding, in a foreword to Right Down The Drain. "The Miami University students have performed a beneficial public service by researching the EdChoice voucher scheme and recording the results of their research as presented in this book. Their contribution to this resource to help the public understand the harm being heaped on public common school students by the unaccountable and unconstitutional EdChoice voucher scheme is laudable."
Read the bios of the doctoral students here.
The Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding is working with Vouchers Hurt Ohio, a growing coalition of public school districts that have come together to sue the state over the unconstitutional and harmful private school voucher program.
Read the book online here.