Education

Fla. Appeals Court Rules in Favor of State’s Largest Private School Choice Program

By Arianna Prothero — August 17, 2016 1 min read
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Advocates for Florida’s largest private school choice program notched another court victory, but it remains unclear if the legal fight is over, according to the Associated Press.

Under the program, corporations receive tax-credits in exchange for funding scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools, including religious ones.


Explainer: What’s the Difference Between Vouchers, Tax-Credit Scholarships, and Education Savings Accounts


A Florida appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling to toss out a lawsuit brought by the state’s largest teachers’ union, the Florida Education Association, among other groups, saying that plaintiffs are not being harmed by the program.

The Florida Education Association argued in its lawsuit that the tax-credit scholarship program is unconstitutional because it directs money toward religious schools and creates a private, parallel education system. Both those arguments were used successfully in 2006 to strike down Florida’s traditional voucher program in which the state directly funded private school tuition vouchers.

The FEA has not yet said whether it will appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Charters & Choice blog.