Dear Friends,

 

A prodigious development, in the article (ACLU: State preschool is no place to teach religion), the civil-liberties union (ACLU) calls Florida's pre-kindergarten law unconstitutional.  This puts more pressure on the judges to consider the consequences of their decision.

 

While they still do not petition for the same action with Bright Futures, which is a very popular college scholarship program, at least some of the message got out, from an unusual suspect to boot.

 

In (Voucher Plan Can Wait), the St. Pete Times at long last admits that a ruling against the Opportunity Scholarship Program would likely affect the new pre-k program and the popular Bright Futures college scholarship program. Not surprisingly, they do it in the middle of an anti-voucher editorial.

 

 

Thank you for Stepping Up For Students,

 

Michael A. Benjamin

Executive Director, F.A.C.E.

Florida Alliance for Choices in Education

ACLU: State preschool is no place to teach religion

The civil-liberties union calls Florida's pre-kindergarten law unconstitutional.

By Leslie Postal
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 5, 2005

Florida's new pre-kindergarten program should not allow religious instruction because that would violate the state constitution, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in a letter sent to lawmakers Friday.

The new pre-K program, slated to start in August, is to be run largely by private day-care centers and schools, including religious ones.

The religious organizations have to meet state standards but are free to teach religious beliefs to the 4-year-olds in their care.

"We are firmly of the opinion that religious instruction is impermissible in any taxpayer-funded [preschool]," read the letter from the ACLU's Florida office.

The group urged lawmakers to amend the pre-K law adopted in December so that religious teachings are not allowed and forbidding religious groups that offered state pre-K from denying admission to those not of their faith.

If they do not, the letter said, "the results will inevitably be more litigation."

When the Florida Legislature adopted the pre-K bill, state leaders acknowledged that the program could face a court challenge.

But they said that if and until that happens, they wanted pre-K offered by the broadest range of providers possible.

At the center of the ACLU's pre-K argument is an ongoing court battle over Florida's 1999 school-voucher program.

The voucher program allows students at failing schools to receive state-funded scholarships to attend private schools, including religious ones.

Florida courts so far have ruled the voucher law is unconstitutional and in violation of the state prohibition against aid to religious institutions.

Gov. Jeb Bush's administration, which created the voucher law, has appealed, and the case is now at the Florida Supreme Court.

The ACLU is one of several groups fighting to have the voucher program ruled illegal.

Leslie Postal can be reached

 

Voucher plan can wait

There's no reason for Gov. Jeb Bush to pursue his plan when a state Supreme Court ruling on vouchers' constitutionality is imminent.

A Times Editorial
Published March 7, 2005

Gov. Jeb Bush is eager to dramatically expand the use of taxpayer-funded vouchers even as the Florida Supreme Court is poised to rule on whether vouchers violate the state Constitution by allowing state dollars to be spent at religious schools. A more prudent approach would be to wait for the court's opinion and spend the state's time and resources on programs that could really benefit students.

The governor wants the Legislature to create a "Reading Compact Scholarship" that would provide a voucher to attend private school for any student who scores at the lowest reading level on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for three straight years. That means more than 170,000 public school students would be eligible to use public money to attend private schools, including those schools with religious affiliations. While Bush estimates only a small portion of those students would use the vouchers, his proposal offers false hope for students who need real help learning to read.

Beyond the legal issues, there are practical reasons to question this approach. The state would be paying for students who failed FCAT reading tests to attend private schools, but students at those private schools are not required to take the FCAT. Exactly how would the state measure whether the students' reading had improved and public money was being wisely spent?

The governor appears to be focused on expanding the state's voucher programs to ensure a loud public protest if the Supreme Court rules vouchers for students in failing public schools, or Opportunity Scholarships, are unconstitutional. About 700 students are taking advantage of Opportunity Scholarships, and more than half are in faith-based schools. But Bush and other voucher supporters have warned that a court opinion finding those vouchers are unconstitutional could have far broader implications, jeopardizing vouchers for students with disabilities under the John M. McKay Scholarships Program, the new prekindergarten program that relies on religious-affiliated schools to accommodate the demand, and Bright Futures scholarships for college students who choose to attend private religious schools. Add tens of thousands of families with students who are poor readers, and there could be the foundation for a grass roots movement to amend the Constitution to allow public money to be spent at religious schools. This is a cynical approach by Bush and other voucher supporters that puts political maneuvering above learning. It is unfair to families who would be caught in the middle.

The Florida Constitution is clear: "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."

A trial court and an appellate court have held that the Opportunity Scholarships violate that provision and are unconstitutional. It is reasonable to expect the Florida Supreme Court to agree, but it is impossible to predict how far its opinion will ripple through the education system. The justices could rule as narrowly or as broadly as they choose. They could read the language of the constitutional provision at issue literally or liberally. If the court finds that vouchers to religious schools are unconstitutional, it would be hard to argue that the ruling should not apply to pre-K, McKay scholarships and Bright Futures.

The voucher controversy is nearly five years old, and the court is expected to rule in the coming months. It is reckless for Bush to call for an expansion of vouchers when their future is so uncertain and clarity is so close at hand.