Florida region Americans United
for Separation of Church & State
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Tampa Bay Chapter
Sidney Goetz, President
Jeanne Pugh, member, National Advisory Council
P.O. Box 66694 St. Pete Beach, Florida 33736 Phone:
(727) 343-8666 E-Mail us at: jcpugh@juno.com
FLORIDA PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHER LEGISLATION
CERTAIN TO FACE LEGAL CHALLENGE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Americans United says voucher legislation violates
church-state separation, is 'patently' unconstitutional
The private religious school voucher legislation about to be signed into law by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is unconstitutional and certain to face a court challenge, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "This legislation ignores the U.S. Constitution, the state constitution and several court rulings that clearly say that taxpayers cannot be forced to finance private religious education," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "This voucher legislation will be challenged, and I believe, will be struck down. "I read in the papers that Gov. Bush said he will be smiling when he signs this voucher bill into law," Lynn added. "I wonder if he'll be smiling when a judge tells him that this legislation is unconstitutional."
Under the Florida program, public schools will receive a grade, from A to F, based on standardized test scores. Schools that score well will get extra money from the state, but in schools that receive an F, some students will be able to spend a $4,000 voucher at any private school that accepts them, including religious schools. In addition to the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state, the Florida Constitution contains strong language prohibiting public funding of religion. Article 1, Sec. 3 says, "No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution." Further, Article 9, Sec. 6 says, "The income derived from the state school fund shall, and the principle of the fund may, be appropriated, but only to the support and maintenance of free public schools."
"I don't understand how voucher supporters could read the clear and unambiguous language of their state constitution and still think they can get away with this stunt," Lynn said. "If they really want to help the kids in poorly performing schools, they should be working to help fix those schools, not abandoning them with some risky and patently unconstitutional voucher scheme." Lynn also noted that state courts in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Vermont and just last week, Maine, have struck down voucher aid to religious schools. (Only the Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld vouchers.) "Voucher supporters in Florida and elsewhere need to realize that the law just isn't on their side," Lynn concluded.
Ad campaign blasts Bush's voucher stand
By MARK SILVA
Miami Herald Capital Bureau Chief * March 23, 1999
TALLAHASSEE -- As lawmakers move toward letting children use state-paid tuition at private schools, teachers' unions are cranking up a radio ad campaign slamming the plan and its sponsor, Gov. Jeb Bush. They are hot-wiring protest calls directly to the governor's office. `Hear that?'' asks the announcer of a new union-backed ad, words offset by sounds of shattering glass. ``It's a familiar sound in Tallahassee these days. It's the sound of another campaign promise being broken.''In fact, a plan that the Senate Education Committee approved Monday and theHouse is ready to debate Wednesday, is faithful to a proposal Bush made in his campaign for governor: Grade all the public schools, and let children in``failing'' schools switch to better public schools or private schools with state-paid tuition. Bush calls tuition vouchers ``opportunity scholarships.''
The Senate's Education Committee, rebuffing attempts Monday by Democrats to reshape it, voted 6-4 to approve the governor's bill (S 1756).``It still has not been explained to me how this bill is actually going to improve public education,'' said Sen. Buddy Dyer, D-Orlando, voting no. ``What we are doing is setting up a program that is going to cherry-pick and skim thebest students off and leave the worst performers behind.''``Much of the debate is about protecting the system and not enabling thestudents,'' complained Sen. Jim Horne, R-Orange Park, voting yes. ``This is about preparing parents to have some say-so in their education.'' David Clark, spokesman for Florida Teaching Profession/NEA, says the promise that Bush is breaking is his pledge to listen to Floridians. A majority opposes tuition vouchers, Clark maintains, based on his organization's public opinion polling. The radio ad offers listeners a toll-free telephone number to call to registeran opinion: 1-877-WE-SAY-NO. It rings inside the governor's office. By the end of business Monday, nearly 400 calls had been logged in Bush's CitizensServices Office -- 276 protesting tuition vouchers, 104 supporting them.``It just goes right in there -- believe it or not,'' said Cory Tilley, the governor's director of communications. ``You can do that, with telemarketing these days. It's expensive.''Union-backed Teachers for Better Public Schools is spending $40,000 on the first run of radio ads, Clark says. ``The governor's position is clear, and calls generated by this are not going to change his mind,'' Tilley said. ``This is just a scare tactic to try to protect the establishment . . .''
This new volley will draw a radio reply from Floridians for School Choice, a Miami-based group with financial backing of its own promoting vouchers. The new union ad is misleading, says Randy Lewis, publicist for Floridians forSchool Choice, which draws some of its money from CEOAmerica, a voucher-advocacy group supported by Wal-Mart heir John Walton. ``The whole ad is a lie, because they are saying [Bush] is breaking a campaign promise . . . In fact, he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do,'' Lewis said. Between choruses of breaking glass, the ad's narrator states: ``Remember candidate Bush's promise? To improve our public schools, to work with communities and really listen . . . Well, he hasn't been listening to most Floridians. He's busy steam-rolling a private school voucher bill through the Legislature that will rob our public schools of millions of tax dollars.''
Both advocates and opponents of vouchers have drawn their own conclusions from opinion polling of Floridians: 54 percent of likely voters call allowing children to attend private schools with the public paying part or all of the costs a bad idea, according to a survey of 800 Floridians commissioned last year by the FTP/NEA. 39 percent call it a good idea, that survey said. 32 percent ``stronglysupport'' and another 16 percent support allowing families to direct public money to ``the school of their choice, be it public, private or parochial,''according to a survey commissioned last year by Floridians for School Choice.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization represents 60,000 members and allied houses of worship in all 50 states. AU has been a part of legal challenges to every voucher program passed in the country.
