Ohio school districts give up fight to remove Matt Huffman in voucher lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 140 public school districts suing the state over private school education vouchers have dropped their years-long push to oust Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and demand that he clarify which private school lobbyists he speaks to outside the legislative chambers.

The counties withdrew the subpoena in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Thursday and notified the Ohio Supreme Court of the withdrawal on Monday.

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Huffman, who has argued that the Ohio Constitution protects him from testifying. The school districts said in their Monday brief to the Supreme Court that the appeal should be dismissed because the testimony is no longer an issue. The court has not yet acted on the motion to dismiss.

The school districts, which have joined together in a coalition called Vouchers Hurt Ohio, offered no explanation for withdrawing the subpoena from Huffman, a Lima Republican who is considered one of the state's most influential politicians. Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer left a message with a coalition spokesperson.

Vouchers are harmful Ohio's lawsuit against the state does not challenge the use of taxpayer money for scholarships at private schools for religious reasons. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that this was constitutional in a case involving the Cleveland Scholarship Program.

Instead, it says that the amount of money the legislature has sent to private schools in the form of vouchers over the years has left less money available for public schools. This violates a section of the Ohio Constitution that requires the General Assembly to fund a public school system.

Vouchers Hurt Ohio argues that public school districts have been re-segregated by the state awarding grants to private schools. They argue that private schools are not required to account for how they spend the tax dollars they receive and are not held to the same public information obligations as public schools. Private schools are not subject to teacher performance and development laws, nor to student discipline, special education and truancy laws. Private schools can reject or accept families based on religion, athletic ability or academic ability. Public schools cannot do the same, Vouchers Hurt Ohio's lawsuit says.

The trial is scheduled for November 4 in the courtroom of Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page.

Huffman is not named as a party in the lawsuit. He has opposed testifying, saying he cannot be compelled to answer questions because of legislative privileges under the Ohio Constitution.

A section of the Constitution provides for the right of lawmakers to free speech and debate, and Huffman asked the Ohio Supreme Court to rule on the extent of the constitutionally protected legislative privilege.

READ MORE: Should state lawmakers be exempt from testifying? The answer could have implications for Ohio's private school voucher lawsuit.

Page, the judge in Columbus, ruled last December after reviewing arguments from both sides that counties could submit up to 20 questions to Huffman in writing rather than questioning him for hours in person at a lawyer's office. Huffman is trying to get the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court to overturn that decision.

The fight over the voucher lawsuit and Huffman's subpoena is heated. Last year, as lawmakers were preparing the state's biennial budget, Huffman asked all school districts to tell lawmakers and Ohio Auditor Keith Faber how much money they would spend on the litigation.

Cleveland.com has reached out to a spokesperson for Huffman for comment.