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ERIC Number: EJ759526
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jun-15
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0277-4232
EISSN: N/A
Justices Query Lawyers in Florida Court Showdown over Voucher Program
Richard, Alan
Education Week, v24 n40 p1, 20 Jun 2006
Florida's Opportunity Scholarships faced their most crucial test in June 2005, as the state supreme court heard arguments in a case about the constitutionality of the voucher program. In more than an hour of oral arguments in "Bush v. Holmes," held June 7, in Tallahassee and shown live on the Internet, lawyers sparred over the implications for school vouchers of language in the Florida Constitution that bars religious institutions from receiving state money. Plaintiffs' lawyer John M. West said that religious schools using the vouchers are involved in "the religious indoctrination of young children," suggesting there is no way to square the program with the state constitution. The state's lawyers asked the court to keep the vouchers, which they argued are no different from other common forms of public aid that go to religious colleges, hospitals, and other entities. They also stressed that the vouchers primarily help poor and minority students. A decision in the 4-year-old lawsuit challenging the vouchers, which about 720 students statewide used to pay school tuition in 2004-05, could determine the future of vouchers in the state, and slow or fuel the growth of private school choice nationwide.
Editorial Projects in Education. 6935 Arlington Road Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814-5233. Tel: 800-346-1834; Tel: 301-280-3100; e-mail: customercare@epe.org; Web site: http://www.edweek.org/info/about/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A