Catholic Conference of Ohio
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Education

About

In collaboration with the diocesan Catholic school offices in Ohio, the Associate Director for Education advocates for public policies to support Catholic elementary and secondary schools and families. 

Examples of education issues include:

  • EdChoice & State Scholarships
  • School Operating Standards
  • School Regulations & Requirements

Education News:

Supreme Court Rules That Maine Cannot Discriminate Against Religious Schools Because They Teach Religion

The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in the case of Carson v. Makin, which challenged a decision by the First Circuit to allow the State of Maine to exclude religious schools from a tuition assistance benefit on the basis that those schools include religion as part of their instruction. By vote of 6-3, the Court ruled in favor of the petitioners. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Catholic Education, issued a statement in the response to the Court’s ruling.

Catholic School Families Granted Intervention in EdChoice Lawsuit

Judge Page's order states their claims share "a common question of law and fact"

  • Posted: May. 16, 2022
  • Categories: Education

The Catholic School Family Applicants are made up of families whose children specifically attend Catholic schools. These families are Catholic and non-Catholic and from different socioeconomic, racial, and geographic backgrounds. They have all expressed specific reasons why they have chosen to use the EdChoice scholarship to send their children to a Catholic school.

Judge Jaiza Page of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court granted these families' motion to intervene in the EdChoice lawsuit filed in January 2022.

Page reviewed several legal criteria under which outside parties can be granted intervention and determined the families qualified as permissive intervenors, as their claims share "a common question of law and fact" with the named defendants, the state of Ohio, Ohio Department of Education, and State Board of Education. Judge Page also noted families had previously been granted permissive intervention in a challenge to the Cleveland scholarship program.

"Allowing the applicants to intervene will not unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties," Page wrote.

CCO's Keough offers guest commentary in Fordham's Gadfly

Larry Keough writes on the EdChoice scholarship program and accountability

The Catholic Conference of Ohio's Larry Keough, Associate Director for Education, has written a guest commentary in the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Gadfly Daily. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and its affiliated Foundation promote educational excellence for every child in America via quality research, analysis, and commentary, as well as advocacy and exemplary charter school authorization in Ohio. The Gadfly often features relevant, rigorous research, analysis, and commentary for education practitioners and for policymakers at the national, state, and local levels. 

To read Larry's article on the Fordham site click read more. 

Conference Grateful to Families Intervening in EdChoice Lawsuit

Hopeful Ohio’s EdChoice programs will continue to serve families for years to come.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio is grateful to the families who filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Ohio’s EdChoice Scholarship Program at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. They represent the cause of all families across the state who receive these scholarships. To read the full statement from the Catholic Conference of Ohio click read more. 

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State Scholarship Programs

Learn about the various Scholarship Programs available to Catholic Schools in Ohio.

Learn more

Links

Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Catholic School Office

Diocese of Cleveland
Catholic Schools Office

Diocese of Columbus
Catholic School Office

Diocese of Steubenville
Office of Christian Formation and Schools

Diocese of Toledo
Department of Catholic Education

Diocese of Youngstown
Office of Catholic Schools


The Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association

Department Contacts

Tom Rhatican
Associate Director, Department on Education

Convenes and staffs the Superintendents of Catholic Schools 

 

Theresa Bowser
Director, OCSAA

Convenes and staffs the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (OCSAA)

Brian Hickey
Executive Director, Catholic Conference of Ohio