Ohio governor's race could reshape Hilliard school funding

Hilliard City Schools projects flat state funding through 2029, and the Nov. 3 governor's race could determine whether that changes.

Democrat Amy Acton, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Libertarian Don Kissick hold opposing positions on school vouchers, the Fair School Funding Plan and teacher pay. With the district already bracing for tighter budgets, the next governor's education agenda will shape what Hilliard classrooms look like for years.

School vouchers

The candidates diverge most on Ohio's EdChoice voucher program, which the legislature expanded to near-universal eligibility in 2023. The state spent more than $1 billion on private school vouchers in fiscal year 2025, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. K-8 students can receive a $6,166 scholarship and high schoolers $8,408.

Acton's campaign website says she would reform the voucher system and direct public money to public schools. Both the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association have endorsed her.

Ramaswamy wants to expand vouchers further. "I think it's the civil rights issue of our time," he told Columbus station WCMH. "I think kids in our inner cities or in rural parts of Ohio deserve to go to the best possible schools they can."

Kissick supports EdChoice but would examine whether aid can be better targeted. His running mate, lieutenant governor candidate James Mills, said in an email that the program should encourage schools to compete on quality rather than subsidize families who already have access to alternatives.

The Hilliard Education Association weighed in directly in a July 8 letter to the school board, calling vouchers an existential threat to public education and urging the board to oppose the program's expansion. The union argued that every dollar sent to a private school is a dollar taken from Ohio's 1.6 million public school students.

A coalition of more than half of Ohio's 600-plus public school districts is suing over EdChoice's constitutionality. A Franklin County judge ruled the program unconstitutional but allowed it to continue during the appeal, which reached the Tenth District Court of Appeals in May, WYSO reported. No decision has been announced.

State funding and Hilliard's budget

Hilliard's own numbers tell the story. The district's FY2026 General Fund revenues are estimated at $264.1 million, with property taxes making up $183.1 million of that total, boosted by the 6.9-mill operating levy voters approved in November 2024. State and federal grants are projected to dip slightly to $65.3 million, and federal funding is expected to drop about 13.6% as pandemic-era ESSER dollars run out.

Deficit spending starts in FY2027.

The district's budget document says plainly: "We do not anticipate that future State budgets will significantly increase the level of State funding received by our school district."

Acton has pledged to fully implement the Fair School Funding Plan, which lawmakers passed with bipartisan support in 2022 to fund districts based on actual need. Republican lawmakers abandoned the plan during the 2025 budget process. The final budget included a $226 million increase in school funding, but the plan's original projections called for at least triple that to keep pace with inflation, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Kissick's campaign said he supports making school funding more equitable and predictable. Ramaswamy's campaign did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal's questions about the funding plan.

Curriculum and teacher pay

On academics, Ramaswamy said he would raise standards with a focus on third-grade literacy, eighth-grade numeracy and 12th-grade civics. He has said he would reinstate a former state policy requiring schools to hold back students who struggle to read. Acton's campaign said she would invest in new approaches to math and literacy and create workforce training programs. Kissick supports continuing the Science of Reading model.

On teacher pay, Ramaswamy's campaign said he wants to reward top-performing teachers with higher salaries. Piet van Lier, deputy director of the advocacy group Honesty for Ohio Education, characterized Acton's position as advocating for raising teacher pay across the board, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.