A state workgroup is urging Ohio leaders to guarantee transportation for every eligible student, including those attending public, private and charter schools. Its final report, submitted to Gov. Mike DeWine and the General Assembly, also recommends eventually ending the controversial “impractical to transport” label that currently leaves about 22,000 students without district-provided bus rides.
As reported by Cleveland.com, Most of those students attend private schools. But while the report frames the issue as one of access, many Ohioans online are seeing something very different: another raid on public dollars to support private and religious education.
On Reddit’s Ohio forum, the reaction was fierce. One poster blasted the idea outright, writing, “Not a single tax dollar should be used to transport private students or go to charter/religious schools. This is absurd.”
That anger comes as districts already face a crushing bus driver shortage. The report notes that Ohio districts employ about 19,000 drivers, while a recent survey found only 14.7% of vacant bus driver jobs were being filled on average. Some transportation directors and superintendents have even had to drive routes themselves.
Still, the workgroup recommends that Ohio move toward regional transportation networks, allow transportation money to follow students, and create a statewide database to track addresses and requests.
“The Cost of That Private Choice Should Remain Private”
For critics, the issue is not whether children should get to school. It is who should pay when families choose schools outside the public system, especially private schools that can charge steep tuition while still drawing taxpayer support.
One commenter summed up that view sharply: “Families absolutely have the right to send their children to private schools if that’s what they prefer, but that decision shouldn’t come with public funding attached.”
Another user argued that private schools are benefiting from public resources while remaining selective, saying, “Private systems are generally leaps and bounds ahead because they get to protect themselves from the things that bog down public schools.”
The thread repeatedly returned to the idea that public districts must serve everyone, while private and charter schools can operate with more control over enrollment, fees and services. One commenter accused the system of protecting privilege rather than improving education: “It’s not about the education. It’s about exclusivity.”
Others pointed to the strain on public school families. One user claimed, “There have been years when I wasn’t sure if my kids were going to have bussing at all to public school the week of back-to-school.”
The workgroup was not unanimous. Three members voted against the final recommendations, including State Rep. Catherine Ingram, Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Shauna Murphy and Patrick Henry Local Schools Superintendent Josh Biederstedt.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, a Republican from Delaware County, said he wants to turn some recommendations into legislation, including a possible role for Education Service Centers in taking over transportation from districts.
But judging by the online backlash, that road may be anything but smooth.
