Private schools added 18,327 students between the 2020-2021 school year and the 2024-2025 school year, according to ODEW data. Charter schools added 4,941 students in the same period.
In summer 2023, the Ohio legislature expanded the state’s voucher system so that all families could qualify for vouchers, no matter their income or where they lived, which was the previous criteria to qualify. The scholarship amount for 2025-2026 is $6,166 for grades K–8 and $8,408 for grades 9-12, according to ODEW.
Not all private school students are on vouchers as some private schools, like the Miami Valley School, do not currently accept vouchers, though the school says they plan to in the future.
There were 69,675 students on paid vouchers in 2020-2021 and 166,589 students on paid vouchers in 2024-2025.
Shannon Cox, the Montgomery County Educational Service Center superintendent, noted that the number of students that public schools have lost are not directly proportional to the amount of students whose families have chosen private, charter or homeschool options. She said there are just fewer students in the state now compared to even a few years ago.
The increase in students at both private and charter schools shows a growing demand from families who want an education that best fits their child’s needs, said Beth Lawson, spokeswoman for School Choice Ohio.
“During this period, families have faced unprecedented disruptions—from the COVID-19 pandemic to learning loss and staffing shortages—and many parents have become more engaged in evaluating the learning environment, academic outcomes, and safety of their child’s school,” Lawson said.
Private schools accept vouchers and are run by private organizations. Private schools typically charge families for tuition. Charter schools open outside of traditional K-12 schools, but still have a board of trustees and receive public funds. Families are not charged to send their kids to charter schools. Both charter and public schools normally require an application.
William L. Phillis, an education consultant for the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding/Vouchers Hurt Ohio, said it is a small number of students overall who have been moving schools.
“These total numbers show that parents in the state overwhelmingly support public schools,” Phillis said.
Vouchers Hurt Ohio has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging the constitutionality of the voucher system.
Changes in demographics, alongside changes at the state level, are part of the reasons why more people are choosing options other than traditional public schools, said Aaron Churchill, the Ohio research director for the Fordham Institute.
“Thanks to the efforts of state leaders to support educational options, more Ohio students today are attending schools that fit their needs,” Churchill said. “This bodes well for Ohio’s future, which depends on giving every student a great education that taps his or her individual interests and talents.”
Lawson noted that the number of families homeschooling has also risen. About 51,500 students were homeschooled in 2020-2021, according to ODEW, and as of the 2024-2025 school year, 61,009 students were homeschooled, or about 3% of the total.
“Overall, these trends demonstrate that a one-size-fits-all approach to education is no longer satisfactory for Ohio parents,” Lawson said.
Jocelyn Rhynard, a Dayton Public School board member, noted that public schools continue to offer options that many private and charter schools don’t, such as career tech programming and special education services. Public schools are also the backbone of the community, she said.
“The school choice that most parents in Ohio make are in choosing their local public schools,” Rhynard said.
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