This NPR segment (NPR : New Ohio Governor Targets School Vouchers) reminds us that while 12 states plus Utah now have voucher programs, new Ohio governor Ted Strickland is trying to roll back one of the original voucher initiatives to its previous form. For the past year, Ohio’s new statewide voucher program has been running, serving roughly 3,000 kids. Arguing that the program costs too much ($13 million) and serves the few rather than the many, Strickland wants to roll the program back to its original Cleveland-only size. He is opposed by, among other things, crying parents and kids who don’t want to go back where they came from. Meanwhile, other states -- Utah, say -- watch and see which direction this voucher thing is going.
My take, for what it’s worth, is that voucher programs will continue to spread, regardless of what happens in Ohio and Utah in the short term.