Court Rules Against Florida Voucher Law

A state law that allows public school students to attend private religious schools at taxpayers’ expense is unconstitutional, a state appeals court ruled Monday.

The 2-1 decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal upholds a ruling by a trial judge saying that the state Constitution forbids the use of tax money to send students to religious schools.

“Courts do not have the authority to ignore the clear language of the Constitution, even for a popular program with a worthy purpose,” Judge William A. Van Nortwick Jr. wrote in the decision.

Education Commissioner Jim Horne called the ruling unfortunate and said it would be appealed to the state Supreme Court. The law is being enforced as the case makes its way through the courts.

Attorney Barry Richard, who represented the state, said the ruling did not address the state’s main argument -- that the law was neutral to religion and that if found unconstitutional would violate the U.S. Constitution’s promise of “free exercise” of religion.

Ron Meyer, a lawyer for opponents of the law, said the decision was comprehensive and would make it easy for the state Supreme Court to reach a similar finding. “It means that taxpayer money will be used only for public schools. It means that the separation of church and state will be honored,” he said.

Under the 1999 law -- the centerpiece of Gov. Jeb Bush’s education policy -- students attending failing public schools are eligible for vouchers to private schools, including religious ones.

Voucher opponents, including the state teachers’ union, the Florida PTA and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, challenged the law in court the day after Bush signed it in 1999.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court swept aside a major hurdle to voucher programs, ruling that such uses of tax dollars did not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

Still, the judge in the lower court ruling said the program violated Florida’s Constitution, which banned the use of tax dollars on religious schools.

Bush said he was disappointed and warned that the ruling could threaten other programs, such as Florida’s lottery-funded scholarship program for college students and another voucher program that allows public school students with disabilities to attend private schools.

This school year, 732 students from failing public schools plan to attend private ones under the law, an increase of about 100 from last year. More than half will attend religious schools, according to the state. Voucher students there may be taught religion, but may not be forced to pray, worship or profess a religious belief.