From college football to movies, everyone loves a good top-ten ranking. In an effort to give the people what they want, here are the ten most notable education stories from the past year in Ohio.

10. County judge slams private school choice. In 2022, a group of school districts filed a lawsuit seeking to wipe out Ohio’s private school scholarship program known as EdChoice. Earlier this summer, Franklin County judge Jaiza Page—an elected Democrat and private school alumna—ignored legal precedent and parental rights in siding with the anti-school-choice plaintiffs. Citing certain appeal, the judge stayed her decision, which meant that 140,000 students, many low-income and minority, did not have their scholarships immediately stripped. Next stop in the lawsuit: the 10th district court of appeals.

9. Graduation rates balloon, pumped up by low standards. This year, the state’s four-year graduation rate reached 88.3 percent, the highest point over the past decade. In three in five districts, rates topped 95 percent. Even underperforming districts such as Akron, Columbus, and Youngstown posted rates above 80 percent. But the dirty little secret behind these sky-high numbers is that thousands of students are graduating through a low-level career-tech alternative that allows them to bypass basic math and reading requirements. That raises the question: How will these barely literate young people fare in the real world?

8. The push for improved charter school funding loses steam. For many years, Ohio severely underfunded its public charter schools. Under Governor DeWine, the funding situation for charters has brightened, thanks largely to a hefty supplement for high performers. This year’s state budget kicked off with the promise of further improvements, as the governor proposed a sizeable increase in charter facility allotments. The gains, unfortunately, did not materialize in the final budget, and the funding gaps faced by charters today remain about the same as in the prior biennium.

7. Ohio moves toward more accurate counts of low-income students. Due to highly inflated “economically disadvantaged” rates resulting from federal policy shifts, Ohio has increasingly misdirected state aid intended to support low-income students. This year, lawmakers took a first step toward fixing the problem. Starting this fall, allotments will be based partly on more accurate counts of low-income pupils who are identified via direct certification. While a good start, lawmakers left some work unfinished. They still need to fully incorporate direct certification rates into the funding formula. They also need to boost the base per-low-income-pupil amount to ensure high-poverty schools are not negatively impacted by this needed shift.

6. Good riddance to the “emergency” levy. With rising home values and citizens sounding alarms about tax bills, state lawmakers took a serious look at property tax policy this year. Ohio’s property tax system is notoriously complex, and one of the most opaque measures has been the “emergency levy.” If a natural disaster knocked down a school building, using that type of language to describe a tax request to citizens would be understandable. But that’s not how the policy was being used. School districts were taking advantage of the charged-up language to get levy requests past voters, not to address legitimate catastrophes. Thankfully, lawmakers repealed the emergency levy through the budget process. Moving forward, districts will be required to put more conventional, neutrally framed tax requests on ballots.

5. Lawmakers put the brakes on Cupp-Patterson. Enacted in 2021 with much fanfare, the Cupp-Patterson model is Ohio’s latest school funding formula. During sunnier times, such as the past couple budget cycles, lawmakers were willing to cover its hefty costs. But going into a leaner budget, it was less clear that lawmakers would continue their embrace. House Speaker Matt Huffman set the tone early by dubbing the formula “unsustainable.” The governor’s proposal was also cool toward the model, as it did not call for an update of the formula inputs, a move which helps the model function but at an enormous cost to the state. In the end, lawmakers retained the general framework but constrained its costs by declining an input update.  

4. Study finds EdChoice increased college attendance and completion. This year, the Urban Institute published findings that Ohio’s private school scholarship students had college enrollment rates 16 percentage points above their public school peers, while their degree completion rates were 8 points higher. The study also found that EdChoice lifted public school students’ college outcomes through competitive effects. Unfortunately, these positive results haven’t stopped the attacks on EdChoice, whose critics seem more focused on money and adult interests than what’s good for Ohio students.

3. Ohio wins a big federal charter school grant. In September, state officials announced that Ohio will receive a $55.5 million competitive grant to support the growth of public charter schools. The funds will be spent over the next five years to expand and replicate quality charters, with a special focus on launching high schools, as well as expanding options in high-poverty communities and rural areas. In addition, Ohio also received $49.2 million to support charter schools’ facility needs. If used well, these funds should unlock exciting new opportunities for Ohio students.

2. Math makes its way onto the state’s policy agenda. Math proficiency has long been a struggle for too many Ohio students, and the pandemic made things even worse. To their credit, state policymakers began taking steps to address the crisis this year. Back in July, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce unveiled its statewide plan to improve math performance. Then in December, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed math-focused legislation (SB19) that would require the department to identify high-quality math curricula, schools to help low-performing students, and prospective elementary teachers to pass a licensing test before teaching this subject.

1. More Ohio families choose non-district options. My top story of the year—not one covered widely in the mainstream media—is the steadily increasing number of families exercising choice. From 2023–24 to 2024–25, public charter and STEM school enrollments were up by about 2,500 students, good for a 2.2 percent increase. Private school enrollments rose by nearly 8,000 students (+4.6 percent). The number of homeschoolers also increased by about 8,000 students, a 15.0 percent increase (a larger percentage bump given fewer homeschoolers). These data indicate that more Ohio families are finding educational environments that work for their children. In a year with its share of depressing news, that’s reason for cheer.

Happy New Year, and here’s to a great 2026.