To the editor:
In a recent Athens Messenger article on declining school enrollment and vouchers, William L. Phillis claimed: “Every dollar going out for private schools and vouchers is one dollar less for public schools… Poor kids in Appalachia…are helping to subsidize rich people in Dublin to send their kids to a private school.”
It’s a dramatic statement — but it isn’t true. Vouchers are not funded out of Trimble’s or Athens’ budgets. They are paid for directly by the state. When a family in Columbus uses a voucher, Trimble Local Schools do not “lose” that money. To suggest otherwise is misleading, and it fuels outrage instead of addressing the real challenges we face.
And if we’re going to talk about subsidies, let’s be honest about who is subsidizing whom. Trimble receives 94% of its funding from the state because its local tax base is so limited. That means families in higher-income communities across Ohio — people who will never set foot in Trimble or Athens — are already paying to keep these schools open. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s how state funding is designed to work. But let’s not pretend resources only flow one way. The truth is that families in wealthier communities are subsidizing Trimble, not the other way around.
Joining Mr. Phillis in his misleading claims was Scott DiMauro. He says vouchers are “free money” for families who already send their kids to private schools. Not everyone who sends their children to private school is wealthy. Many families sacrifice enormously to make it possible — driving older cars, working extra shifts, skipping vacations, cutting luxuries — all to give their children opportunities they don’t believe exist in their local public schools. To dismiss their sacrifice as “free money” is insulting.
And there is nothing “free” about vouchers. Where does government money come from? It doesn’t grow on trees. It comes from taxpayers — families of all walks of life, including those who use vouchers. And wealthier families, the very ones accused of “gaming” the system, pay far more into the tax system than they ever take out. They aren’t getting something for free. In many cases, they are simply getting back a fraction of what they already put in.
The deeper problem here isn’t vouchers. It’s enrollment. Athens County schools have lost 17% of their students in the past decade — more than 1,200 children gone. Yes, some of this is demographic. But demographics alone don’t explain why so many families are walking away from public schools altogether.
The truth is that dissatisfaction is driving this decline. For decades, traditional public schools have resisted meaningful change. Defenders of the system — many with the best intentions — have positioned themselves into an indefensible corner: protecting the status quo while families demand more. For years, they could get away with it because parents had no other options. Now that alternatives exist — private schools, charters, homeschooling, even unschooling — families are leaving.
This is the problem with government-run education, just like with any monopoly. When there is no competition, there is no incentive to improve. Add in the fact that union demands continue to grow — ensuring salaries and benefits rise regardless of results — and taxpayers are left with higher bills but little innovation in return.
I don’t say this as an outsider. I taught in public schools for 14 years. My wife taught for 25. We know what we’re talking about, because we’ve lived it. Despite higher taxes, new buildings, and constant negotiations, very little has changed in how well schools actually serve students. We’ve both seen how much energy goes into preserving the system itself — jobs, contracts, funding streams — rather than reinventing education to meet the needs of today’s children.
And here’s the cruel irony for Athens County: Families here don’t even have the same range of choices that exist in wealthier or more urban districts. In Senate District 30, there are only 12 private schools that accept vouchers, with just over 1,200 students total. If anything, families here are trapped with fewer alternatives, while their peers in Columbus or Cincinnati have options. Shouldn’t we be working to expand access, not limit it? Isn’t it unfair that rural children have fewer choices simply because of where they live?
So let’s stop pretending that vouchers are the enemy. The real enemy is a lack of innovation, declining enrollment, and the stubborn refusal to rethink how education works in 2025. Instead of clinging to talking points about “free money,” our leaders should be asking tougher questions: Why are families leaving? Why don’t rural communities have the same educational options as urban ones? And how do we finally put students — not systems — at the center of education policy?
Because in the end, that’s the only debate that really matters.
Gabriel Spiezio
Athens, Ohio
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