Upper Arlington and Grandview Heights voters face a Nov. 3 ballot that pairs a $273.5 million school bond issue with a governor's race that could reshape how Ohio funds public schools. Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy offer different visions on vouchers, school funding and taxes.

Both districts earned five-star ratings on the 2025-26 Ohio School Report Card released Sept. 15, placing them among just 61 districts statewide at that level. But that academic success relies heavily on local dollars. Grandview Heights gets only about 11% of its revenue from the state, according to the district's financial forecast. UA Superintendent Robert Hunt told ABC 6 on Sept. 15 that the burden has been shifting: "If you look at the share from a state level and then a local property level, there's been a shift over the years where local residents … have had to take more of the burden on to provide for their schools."

Vouchers

Ohio spent more than $1 billion on private school vouchers in fiscal year 2025, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. Lawmakers expanded EdChoice eligibility in 2023 to 450% of the poverty line, creating near-universal vouchers worth $6,166 per K-8 student and $8,408 per high schooler.

Acton's campaign says she will "bring reform to our corrupt school voucher system" and that "public money should be for public schools." She has been endorsed by both state teachers unions.

Ramaswamy wants to expand school choice further. He called it "the civil rights issue of our time" in a 2025 interview with Columbus station WCMH.

Piet van Lier, deputy director of the advocacy group Honesty for Ohio Education, summarized the split in the Ohio Capital Journal's Sept. 11 report: Acton calls the voucher program unaccountable, while Ramaswamy wants to give it even more funding.

A coalition of more than half of Ohio's 600-plus public school districts is suing the state over EdChoice's constitutionality. A Franklin County judge ruled the program unconstitutional but allowed it to continue while the case moves through the Tenth District Court of Appeals, WYSO reported. Whether UA or Grandview Heights has joined that coalition is not clear from available public records.

Fair School Funding Plan

The bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan, passed in 2022 to distribute state dollars based on each district's actual needs, was abandoned by Republican lawmakers during the 2025 budget process. The final budget included a $226 million increase in school funding. The plan's model called for at least triple that amount.

Policy Matters Ohio estimated the shortfall at $2.75 billion, according to WYSO.

Acton says she would fully implement the plan. Ramaswamy's campaign did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal's questions about his position on the funding formula.

Tax proposals and local impact

Ramaswamy has proposed eliminating Ohio's income tax. A February 2026 report by Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank, estimated that would open a $9.8 billion budget gap affecting education, health care and public safety, Matter News reported. The report projected property taxes would need to rise 20% to compensate. Ramaswamy's campaign disputes those figures, saying that eliminating the income tax would only benefit Ohioans and draw more business to the state.

Ramaswamy has also proposed rolling back property taxes to pre-pandemic levels. Innovation Ohio estimated that rollback would cut $4 billion per year in his first budget, growing to $6.6 billion in his second.

Grandview Heights' financial forecast warns that legislative property tax reform proposals "could significantly impact these current projections." For districts that draw the vast majority of their revenue from local property taxes, the governor's race carries real budget consequences.

Acton has proposed tax cuts targeted toward middle-income homeowners and calls for full implementation of the Fair School Funding Plan.

Teacher pay

The candidates differ on teacher compensation. Ramaswamy says he wants to "pay our best teachers more by rewarding excellence." Acton advocates raising teacher pay across the board, according to van Lier.

What's ahead

UA voters will also decide Issue 7 on Nov. 3, a combined 4.9-mill operating levy and $273.5 million bond issue to rebuild Hastings and Burbank schools and renovate Jones Middle School. The district estimates the combined cost at about $1,250 per year for a home appraised at $500,000, according to the district's Issue 7 page. Early voting begins Oct. 6.

The district's next Issue 7 community event is a Coffee & Conversation on school funding Friday, Sept. 18, from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Bob Crane Community Center.