Florida voucher plan ruled illegal

Voucher opponents won a major victory in January when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the state’s controversial school voucher program violated the Florida Constitution. The ruling bars the state from using taxpayer money to fund private schools.

This is a “victory for Florida’s taxpayers and public school students, and a setback for the anti-public school efforts of Gov. Jeb Bush,” says AFT president Edward J. McElroy.

The decision, he says, “reinforces a core American value—public funds should be used to fund public schools.”

The voucher plan, which was the centerpiece of Gov. Bush’s education reform agenda in the state, violated the state constitution’s requirement of a “uniform, effective, safe, secure and high quality system of public schools” because it illegally directed public funds to private schools, said the court in its 5-2 decision. Students currently in private schools receiving the vouchers will be allowed to finish the school year in those schools.

The court found that the “alternative education” system set up by the voucher program was not accountable to the state or taxpayers. “The diversion of funds not only reduces public funds for a public education but also uses public funds to provide an alternative education in private schools that are not subject to the ‘uniformity’ requirements of public schools,” the ruling stated.

“Instead of using research-proven methods to improve public education, Gov. Bush pushed a voucher program that over the last six years funneled $400 million from public schools to private and religious schools,” says McElroy. With this decision, he adds, “citizens can look forward to their tax dollars being used for education in a manner that will benefit all students in Florida’s public schools.”