Judge Rules Florida School Vouchers Unconstitutional

The future of Florida’s groundbreaking school voucher program was cast into doubt Tuesday when a judge ruled that the plan--which uses state money to pay for private school tuition--is unconstitutional.

Under the program championed by Gov. Jeb Bush, 52 children in Pensacola are using vouchers worth up to $3,400 each to attend private school. They were eligible to do so after the public elementary schools in which they had been enrolled were declared failing.

Only two Florida schools have been deemed failures so far. But dozens more across the state are expected to be so labeled next fall.

Circuit Judge L. Ralph Smith Jr. ruled Tuesday that the voucher plan violated Florida’s Constitution, which mandates that the state provide a free education through public schools. “Tax dollars may not be used to send the children of this state to private schools,” Smith wrote in a decision handed down in Tallahassee.

While ordering the state to take no further action to implement the voucher plan, Smith did say that the children now attending four Catholic schools and one Montessori school in Pensacola could finish the academic year.

The state is expected to appeal the ruling, but lawyers on both sides said that a final decision on the issue likely would rest with the Florida Supreme Court.

Bush was “extremely disappointed by the judge’s ruling,” said Elizabeth Hirst, a spokeswoman for the governor.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of groups, including the teachers’ union, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the Florida PTA, the League of Women Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“This was a very sensible ruling, as we had hoped,” ACLU legal director Andy Cayton said in Miami. “The court found that the state Constitution means what it says.”

In Pensacola, Barbara Frye, a spokeswoman for the Escambia County schools, called the decision “fair and appropriate.”

“Public tax dollars should not be used for private schools, especially when private schools are not held to the same standards of accountability,” she said. “We believe in public choice, and we have a lot of choices within the public school system.”

According to the voucher plan, Florida schools are deemed to be failing when they receive an “F” on standardized tests for a second time in four years. The first two schools affected by that rule are both in predominantly low-income black neighborhoods. Most of the 78 other public schools that received F grades last year also are located in low-income neighborhoods.

Opponents of the voucher plan argued that giving public money to private schools constitutes funding religious education.

But Smith’s decision skirted that issue and focused instead on the constitutional requirement that Florida provide children a free education.

“It is now time for the Legislature and the governor to go back to the drawing board to develop real educational reforms,” said Howard Simon, the Florida ACLU’s executive director.