Florida Wins a Round In Legal Challenge To Its Voucher Program

By Joetta L. Sack

The Florida Supreme Court declined last week to hear a case challenging the state's school voucher program, letting stand an appellate court decision that rejected a claim that private school vouchers for students in failing public schools are unconstitutional.

The high court's 4-1 vote against reviewing the appellate decision effectively cuts off one legal argument against the law: that it violates a clause in the state constitution that requires public education to be uniform and of high quality.

But there are two more claims that the lower courts must still consider: first, that the voucher plan runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on a government establishment of religion, and second, that the voucher program is not...