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January 5, 2006
Florida voucher program struck downToday the Florida Supreme Court issued the ruling that voucher opponents and advocates had long expected, but with a twist. The Court struck down, on a 5-2 decision, Florida's original, flagship voucher program, saying it violates the state constitution's requirement that the state provide a "uniform" and "high quality system of free public schools." While it was widely predicted that the Court would find the program unconstitutional, the twist is that the Court punted on the "no aid" to religious institutions question and focused instead on the state's constitutional mandate to provide a uniform system of public schools.
NSBA President Joan Schmidt issued this statement on the decision, calling it a "victory for public education" and a "major blow to the school voucher movement nationwide."
The decision is here.
In many ways, Florida has been the center of the school voucher universe for the last half-decade, becoming, in 1999, the first state in the nation with a statewide voucher program. The state legislature then spun off two additional K-12 voucher programs. Legal pundits are speculating that one or both may now be in constitutional jeopardy because of the breadth of today's ruling. There is talk also of a possible move by pro-voucher lawmakers to amend the state constitution, though that would mean overcoming a long history of voters' (not in Florida, we know) overwhelming rejection of vouchers when placed on a ballot initiative.
With few voucher programs currently operating nationwide, the loss of Florida's original program (and possibly the others) is a blow to the voucher lobby's efforts.
NSBA joined other education, religious and parent organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief in this case.
Breaking news coverage on the decision from the Palm Beach Post here and Associated Press here.
Check out the Florida School Boards Association's timeline of the voucher case here.
Posted January 5, 2006 3:58 PM | Privatization & Choice
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