F.A.C.E. to FACE   F.A.C.E. BULLETIN 6/08/05   Dear Friends,   All Opportunity March/Rally participants, you each did an outstanding job!  We are making significant achievements in Florida for our children.  The achievements are not only significant in Florida, but relevant and of particular interest from the national outlook.  We are honored to be on the front line of this historic struggle with each of you.      Thank you for stepping up for the students and for the long tireless hours you endure to ensure that all of Florida’s children have more hopeful future.    Thank you for Stepping Up For Students,   Michael A. Benjamin Executive Director, F.A.C.E. Florida Alliance for Choices in Education * THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES APPEARED IN VARIOUS PAPERS BEFORE THE OPPORTUNITY MARCH IN TALLAHASSEE * Both sides sure their views on vouchers for religious schools will prevail By Kimberly Miller <mailto:kimberly_miller@pbpost.com> Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 04, 2005 Mary Jane Soto knows all about Florida's Blaine Amendment. The Miami-Dade County mom believes her son's private school education depends on how the Florida Supreme Court interprets the 38-word sentence added to the state constitution in 1868. And it does. Soto's son, Spencer, is one of 719 Florida students who used a taxpayer-funded Opportunity Scholarship to attend a private school last year as part of the nation's only statewide voucher program. On Tuesday, lawyers for parents and teachers will stand before the Florida Supreme Court and argue that the Blaine Amendment bans state tax dollars from going to religious organizations, including churches and private schools. Two lower courts have deemed the Opportunity Scholarships unconstitutional based on the Blaine Amendment, which is named after a 19th century speaker of the U.S. House who wanted the U.S. Constitution changed to bar the use of public money in religious schools. When his effort failed, about 30 states adopted the language that Soto now feels stands between her son and Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School. "I'm a big believer in the public schools, but when you are up against a wall and faced with going to a failing school, it just doesn't seem right," Soto said. "I'm very concerned." In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in an Ohio case, said vouchers going to religious schools did not violate the U.S. Constitution because tax dollars were not going directly to the schools. The money, the court ruled, went to the parents, who then decided where to send their children. There was an indirect benefit to the religious schools, but not a direct one. But Florida's constitution, with the Blaine Amendment, goes further than the U.S. Constitution. It reads: "No revenue of the state 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." "The language is very plain and clear that no money should go to religious organizations directly or indirectly," said Elliot Mincberg, a spokesman for People for the American Way, which is co-counsel for plaintiffs in the Florida case. "The court ought to decide, as lower courts have, that Florida's constitution goes further than the federal constitution and that the value of the separation of church and state should remain." Attorneys who are representing the state and parents whose children are using vouchers see things differently. "The $64,000 question is what is the meaning of 'in aid of' in that passage," said Clark Neily, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, which is representing parents of children who receive vouchers. Defendants argue that because the vouchers are often not enough to pay the full tuition at religious schools, it is actually not aiding the school at all. In fact, they say, it is the school that is subsidizing the student's tuition. Meyer said he doesn't believe there is any way the court can interpret the Blaine Amendment as allowing tax dollars to go to religious schools. "We do have a degree of optimism going into this," Meyer said. "We are traveling to the Florida Supreme Court with lower courts already deciding in our favor." But Neily said the Supreme Court ought to interpret things differently because he believes more is at stake than just vouchers, including Bright Futures scholarships that students use at religious colleges and government Medicaid money going to hospitals with religious affiliations. Pre-K plan may have a big flaw Use of religious schools for programs could be a violation of the state constitution By Joe Follick CAPITAL BUREAU As they crafted Florida's free prekindergarten program last year, lawmakers were largely silent on one potential hang-up: Their plan may be unconstitutional. The problem is that Florida lawmakers, rather than relying on public schools as other states have done, opted to offer public money for 4-year-olds to attend religious schools. That's the very issue the Florida Supreme Court will rule on in the coming months in a separate lawsuit. Florida's constitution says, "No revenue of the state...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." Their ruling may apply only to one smaller voucher program. But it could also could make the pre-K program illegal before it even starts this August. Lawmakers say they did not have enough time to fully address the constitutionality of a plan they approved late last year. "That was an issue we didn't ignore, but we chose not to get bogged down," said Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, one of the pre-K plan's primary architects. Yet advocates for the program say lawmakers ignored offers to find a constitutional way to start the pre-K system. "This was brought up several times, and several lawmakers said, 'We fully expect to be sued.' That was their response," said Linda Alexionik, prekindergarten director for Children's Campaign, a statewide advocacy group. "There was just this strategy the legislators were not going to deal with this issue unless it became an issue ...Well, it's here." Voters in 2002 ordered lawmakers to provide a free and voluntary pre-K plan for the upcoming school year. Other states implementing such a plan have relied heavily on public schools for the program. But Florida, already facing a multibillion-dollar mandate to limit class sizes, opted instead to pay for 4-year-olds to attend private and faith-based schools. Such use of taxpayer money is at the center of a Florida Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, when the state defends the "opportunity scholarship program," or OSP. Those vouchers provide public money for students who are at failing public schools to attend private or religious schools. Only about 700 children receive the vouchers. That pales next to the state's prediction that the majority of up to 200,000 4-year-olds are expected to attend faith-based schools as part of the pre-K program. John Kirtley is the creator of a separate voucher program that gives businesses a tax credit in exchange for providing vouchers for students. He said lawmakers had little choice but to rely on private schools for the pre-K plan since voters left them no option. "If that amendment had said the state must create space in the public schools to do pre-K, I don't think that would have passed. The price tag would have been $20 billion," he said. The pre-K plan is a voucher plan, as is the state's use of Bright Futures scholarships, which allow university students to attend religious schools, Kirtley said. "That's why this court case is so fascinating. If they strike down OSP as unconstitutional, clearly pre-K is as well, and clearly Bright Futures is, too." Nobody seems to have an option if the state Supreme Court rules the pre-K program illegal. "I hope that's not the ruling," said Gov. Jeb Bush last week. "It would be very difficult." "I don't see any way to prepare for it," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, chairman of the House Education Council. One option Baxley suggested is that lawmakers move to repeal the constitutional amendment barring public money from use by faith-based operators. He said many lawmakers are prepared to put that to a statewide referendum next year. Ironically, one of the groups suing the state and claiming the vouchers are illegal was one of the big backers of the pre-K plan in 2002. The Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, is now noncommittal about the constitutionality of the pre-K plan, while ardently pursuing the lawsuit against the OSP option. "We were hoping it would be a public school initiative and we would be expanding on the structure already in place," said Mark Pudlow, an FEA spokesman. He said the union would have to weigh the scope of a lawsuit against other vouchers or the pre-K plan. "We're not intending to cause chaos here," he said. Larry Spalding is a lobbyist for another anti-voucher litigant, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. He said if the court deems the OSP unconstitutional, his group will likely sue to end the pre-K plan. "It really is, in our view, an unconstitutional program," he said. Court to decide future of vouchers Constitutionality of state funding at issue By Nancy Cook Lauer DEMOCRAT CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF Angela Jones will be paying close attention Tuesday when lawyers argue the constitutionality of vouchers before the Florida Supreme Court. Her son, Jamal Barron, has benefited greatly from his two years using taxpayer-backed vouchers at the Baptist-run Innovation Schools of Excellence in Tallahassee, where he will be entering fifth grade this fall. "When he went to the public school system, no matter how they described it, there still was an exclusionary type (of) mentality between those in mainstream classes and those in Exceptional Student Education," Jones said. "His self-esteem suffered because he was labeled retarded." Jamal, who has struggled with a learning disability since his premature birth at only 1 pound, 7 ounces, goes to the private school courtesy of a McKay Scholarship, not the Opportunity Scholarships, which are being challenged in the Supreme Court. But Jones, and many like her, worries that if one type of voucher is found unconstitutional, the rest won't be far behind. "This is really about academic enrichment, not about religious indoctrination. It's about choice," Jones said. "It's all under the same umbrella. Once you set a precedent, it's going to affect all the scholarships that are out there." The Supreme Court got the case after a circuit court and then the 1st District Court of Appeal found that using state money to send children to private schools not only violates constitutional separation of church and state but also guts the constitution's requirement that the state provide free, high-quality education of children through a public school system. "Courts do not have the authority to ignore the clear language of the constitution, even for a popular program with a worthy purpose," wrote Appellate Judge Van Nortwick in the majority opinion last year. But attorneys for Gov. Jeb Bush argued in filings in the Supreme Court case that "The Legislature's constitutional duty ... is to make adequate provision for the public school system and for the education of all children. This court has held that the Legislature is vested with 'enormous discretion' in deciding how to do this." About half of the $4,241 vouchers are used at religious-based schools and half at other private schools. Yet because they're part of the same program, striking down the law would eliminate both choices. Students have been allowed to keep using vouchers while the case wends its way through the legal system. Of some 2.5 million K-12 students in Florida, more than 700 are using Opportunity Scholarships. Combined, the three voucher programs have about 25,000 students. The Supreme Court is pretty much the last stop for the voucher debate, said Ron Myer, one of the attorneys for the voucher opponents. If the state loses the case, it will have to change the constitution to continue the program, he said. "My view is this (is) the end. This is about the state constitution and this is the highest court in the state, and it has the final word on the issue," Myer said. Voucher opponents include the Florida Congress of Parents and Teachers (Florida PTA), the League of Women Voters of Florida, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Florida Education Association, People for the American Way and the Florida Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Ruth Holmes Cameron, a former teacher in the Escambia County Schools system, and Susan and Gregg Watson, parents of children in the public school system. Voucher supporters - the plaintiffs in the case for the high court - include Gov. Jeb Bush, Attorney General Charlie Crist, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Florida Catholic Conference and a coalition made up of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the McKay Coalition and the Florida African American Education Alliance. Voucher supporters expect 2,000 people to rally outside the Supreme Court building during the arguments. Opponents also are expected to rally. Myers doesn't think the rallies will have much effect. "Constitutional cases are not decided in the streets outside the courthouse," he said. "Even a well-intentioned program that's unconstitutional still can't be sanctioned." THE HEARING When: 9 a.m. Tuesday Where: Florida Supreme Court; seating is limited. How to watch: The Florida Channel will provide live coverage. Locally, it's available on 4FSU (Comcast Channel 4). The coverage can also be seen on the Internet at www.wfsu.org. Also: Duval Street will be closed from Gaines to Pensacola from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. to make room for a march and rally. VOUCHERS Types of taxpayer-backed education vouchers in use in Florida: Opportunity Scholarships: A key component of Gov. Jeb Bush's 1999 A-Plus Plan, these are given to parents of children who attend schools that have been graded F twice in the past four years, based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. This is the voucher being challenged. McKay Scholarships: Vouchers given to parents of children with learning disabilities. They are named for former Senate President John McKay, who championed the measure. Corporate Scholarships: Corporations get tax breaks for giving money to low-income families so their children can attend private schools. STATE GOVERNMENT Contact Capitol Bureau Chief Nancy Cook Lauer at (850) 671-6547 or nlauer@tallahassee.com. © 2005 Tallahassee Democrat and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.tallahassee.com By Nancy Cook Lauer DEMOCRAT CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF Angela Jones will be paying close attention Tuesday when lawyers argue the constitutionality of vouchers before the Florida Supreme Court. Her son, Jamal Barron, has benefited greatly from his two years using taxpayer-backed vouchers at the Baptist-run Innovation Schools of Excellence in Tallahassee, where he will be entering fifth grade this fall. "When he went to the public school system, no matter how they described it, there still was an exclusionary type (of) mentality between those in mainstream classes and those in Exceptional Student Education," Jones said. "His self-esteem suffered because he was labeled retarded." Jamal, who has struggled with a learning disability since his premature birth at only 1 pound, 7 ounces, goes to the private school courtesy of a McKay Scholarship, not the Opportunity Scholarships, which are being challenged in the Supreme Court. But Jones, and many like her, worries that if one type of voucher is found unconstitutional, the rest won't be far behind. "This is really about academic enrichment, not about religious indoctrination. It's about choice," Jones said. "It's all under the same umbrella. Once you set a precedent, it's going to affect all the scholarships that are out there." The Supreme Court got the case after a circuit court and then the 1st District Court of Appeal found that using state money to send children to private schools not only violates constitutional separation of church and state but also guts the constitution's requirement that the state provide free, high-quality education of children through a public school system. "Courts do not have the authority to ignore the clear language of the constitution, even for a popular program with a worthy purpose," wrote Appellate Judge Van Nortwick in the majority opinion last year. But attorneys for Gov. Jeb Bush argued in filings in the Supreme Court case that "The Legislature's constitutional duty ... is to make adequate provision for the public school system and for the education of all children. This court has held that the Legislature is vested with 'enormous discretion' in deciding how to do this." About half of the $4,241 vouchers are used at religious-based schools and half at other private schools. Yet because they're part of the same program, striking down the law would eliminate both choices. Students have been allowed to keep using vouchers while the case wends its way through the legal system. Of some 2.5 million K-12 students in Florida, more than 700 are using Opportunity Scholarships. Combined, the three voucher programs have about 25,000 students. The Supreme Court is pretty much the last stop for the voucher debate, said Ron Myer, one of the attorneys for the voucher opponents. If the state loses the case, it will have to change the constitution to continue the program, he said. "My view is this (is) the end. This is about the state constitution and this is the highest court in the state, and it has the final word on the issue," Myer said. Voucher opponents include the Florida Congress of Parents and Teachers (Florida PTA), the League of Women Voters of Florida, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Florida Education Association, People for the American Way and the Florida Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Ruth Holmes Cameron, a former teacher in the Escambia County Schools system, and Susan and Gregg Watson, parents of children in the public school system. Voucher supporters - the plaintiffs in the case for the high court - include Gov. Jeb Bush, Attorney General Charlie Crist, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Florida Catholic Conference and a coalition made up of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the McKay Coalition and the Florida African American Education Alliance. Voucher supporters expect 2,000 people to rally outside the Supreme Court building during the arguments. Opponents also are expected to rally. Myers doesn't think the rallies will have much effect. "Constitutional cases are not decided in the streets outside the courthouse," he said. "Even a well-intentioned program that's unconstitutional still can't be sanctioned." THE HEARING When: 9 a.m. Tuesday Where: Florida Supreme Court; seating is limited. How to watch: The Florida Channel will provide live coverage. Locally, it's available on 4FSU (Comcast Channel 4). The coverage can also be seen on the Internet at www.wfsu.org. Also: Duval Street will be closed from Gaines to Pensacola from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. to make room for a march and rally. VOUCHERS Types of taxpayer-backed education vouchers in use in Florida: Opportunity Scholarships: A key component of Gov. Jeb Bush's 1999 A-Plus Plan, these are given to parents of children who attend schools that have been graded F twice in the past four years, based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. This is the voucher being challenged. McKay Scholarships: Vouchers given to parents of children with learning disabilities. They are named for former Senate President John McKay, who championed the measure. Corporate Scholarships: Corporations get tax breaks for giving money to low- income families so their children can attend private schools. Argument for vouchers no better than in 1999 Palm Beach Post Editorial Sunday, June 05, 2005 Five years after the first Florida judge ruled Gov. Bush's original voucher program unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in the case. Because the vouchers, in effect, help religious schools proselytize and undermine public education, the high court should agree that they violate the state constitution. That document says, "No revenue of the state... 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." Voucher advocates say that prohibition doesn't apply because any benefit to the religious school is incidental. Delivering education, they say, is like delivering meals or other social services that religious organizations can provide using state grants. If the court strikes down vouchers, they claim, religious groups will be unable to offer any state-subsidized aid.  More from Opinion •Sound off in the blog • Columnists • Editorials/Letters • Don Wright cartoons In fact, there is a clear difference between delivering a service and providing an education. The three major influences on a child usually are home, church and school. The voucher program improperly seeks to combine the last two. Voucher supporters say the important thing is that students don't have to participate in prayers. But parents who send their children to religious schools would be shocked and disappointed if the religious nature of the school's instruction began and ended with a few minutes each day of prayer and Bible study. In depositions, many of the religious schools that take Gov. Bush's so-called Opportunity Scholarships proudly describe a curriculum in which Jesus is central to every aspect of instruction. Religious schools seek to mold children into adherents of their particular religious beliefs. That hardly is "incidental." Parents are free to send their children to such schools — but not at the public's expense. The vouchers, which go to students in schools that receive a state grade of F twice within four years, primarily have been used at religious schools. Public school advocates also persuasively argue that providing vouchers for use at nonreligious schools violates the constitutional requirement that Florida exclusively provide public education through "a system of free public schools." The intent of the governor and Legislature in creating vouchers has been to undermine that system of free public schools. There is no other way to explain inadequate state budgets and the second wave of vouchers, which aren't at issue in this case but ought to be soon. While chaining public schools to a grading system that misuses the FCAT, the state has refused, despite repeated abuses, to require adequate academic or fiscal oversight of private schools using corporate tax vouchers. Gov. Bush has continued and expanded voucher programs even as lower courts ruled them illegal. The Supreme Court should return the state's focus to public schools, as the constitution requires. Daytona Beach New Journal Right Choice? Court can't answer fundamental question Last update: June 05, 2005 Voucher systems in Florida are not designed to offer a better choice for parents seeking better schooling for their children. If they were, they would require private schools receiving vouchers to be held as accountable for academic achievement, overall safety and financial responsibility as public schools. They would require that parents be provided with comparative information to help them make the best choice. Instead, Florida's three voucher programs have minimal oversight. Private schools receiving vouchers get millions in tax dollars but how good are they? That information is not shared with the public, not even the FCAT scores. When parents can't compare quality, how can they know what's best for their child? That's the irony about the voucher case before the Florida Supreme Court. It's not about academic programs, privacy issues or even child-safety matters. The issue before the justices is whether public money can be used to support a religious school under the Florida Opportunity Scholarship Program. The state constitution prohibits aid to religious institutions, and court rulings have so far supported the voucher opponents' stance that giving funds to schools that blend educational and religious programming is unconstitutional. The people who filed the suit are hoping a ruling in their favor will kill not only Opportunity Scholarship but also block new voucher programs, such as the one the governor has proposed for students who fail FCAT reading exams. So the court will focus on the legal issue, as it should, and won't be able to address the critical flaws of voucher systems. High on the list of shortcomings is that voucher systems take away funds needed to make substandard public schools better. In many cases, students in those schools are from low-income minority backgrounds. It would be better to use funds that go to vouchers to infuse failing schools with the best administrators, the best teachers, the best technology. The voucher system offers an easy out. By sending money to private schools that are not held accountable, the state is let off the hook. A private school that fails might be sued, but the blame would likely be deflected from political leaders. And those leaders would be unlikely to impose measures to ensure that voucher-receiving schools meet another constitutional requirement: that the state provide free, uniform, high-quality schools. By diverting public-education dollars to voucher programs, the state can slowly move itself out of the costly education business. And some critics say that is the goal. Indeed, legislators have been reducing the state's share of Florida's education funding for years. The budget just passed allocates 56.6 percent of state spending for education, down from 61 percent six years ago. When lawyers address the Florida justices on Tuesday, their arguments will be about whether vouchers run afoul of the constitution's "no-aid" clause. Yet the overriding issue remains: Turning schooling over to private providers who are paid with tax dollars and not held to any standards is fundamentally wrong and doesn't improve public education. FLORIDA'S VOUCHERS Florida was the first state to offer statewide voucher plans for kindergarten through 12th-grade students. They are: · Opportunity Scholarship, implemented in 1999, provides $3,900 for public or private schools. Recipients must attend schools that receive two consecutive failing grades under the FCAT system. Affects about 700 children. · McKay Scholarship, started in 2001, is for children with disabilities. The funding equals what the public school would have collected in per-child state funding or the private school's tuition and fees, whichever is less. Affects about 14,000 children. · Corporate Tax Credit, enacted in 2001, provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits up to $5 million for businesses that provide private-school scholarships for children from low-income families. The Legislature this year increased the cap from $50 million to $88 million. Affects about 11,000 children; new cap could add 9,000. THE COURT CASE On Tuesday, the Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments to dismantle or save the Opportunity Scholarship program. The ruling might affect the other state voucher programs. The law creating Opportunity Scholarship has been struck down by three Florida courts. In the latest ruling, the full Court of Appeal of Florida, First District, found the voucher system violates Article I, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution, which says "[n]o revenue of the state . . . shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid . . . of any sectarian institution." The case has raised national interest because 36 other states have similar funding bans. Florida's -- one of the most restrictive -- dates back to the 1868 constitution and is included in the current document ratified by voters in 1968. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Cleveland voucher program does not violate the U.S. Constitution but did not address state constitutions. NATIONAL OUTLOOK Only a handful of states have voucher programs although many are considering them. Utah approved a statewide program this year. Maine and Vermont had rural programs dating back to the 1800s. Ohio has a voucher program affecting only Cleveland, and Wisconsin's voucher program affects only Milwaukee. The District of Columbia began a federally funded voucher program last year. Several states are looking into corporate tax credits to avoid court battles. Two of the oldest are Milwaukee and Cleveland. They have been the most studied, with results either inconclusive or contradictory regarding academic achievement. · Milwaukee: First created in 1975, Wisconsin lawmakers included religious schools in 1990. The state provides $5,900 in vouchers. Affects 15,000 children. · Cleveland: Implemented in 1996, the Cleveland program offered up to $2,250 for low-income children to attend private schools. Affects 5,000 children. School voucher issue heads to state high court By JIM SAUNDERS Tallahassee Bureau Chief Last update: June 05, 2005 TALLAHASSEE -- Ordinarily, 741 students would be little more than a footnote among the more than 2.6 million Florida schoolchildren. But that small group is at the center of a six-year legal and political battle that comes down to this question: Should Florida use tax dollars to send children to private and religious schools? State Supreme Court justices will tackle the issue Tuesday, hearing arguments about whether Gov. Jeb Bush and lawmakers violated the Florida Constitution when they passed a 1999 law that allows children to get taxpayer-funded private education -- a system commonly known as school vouchers. Two lower courts have ruled the voucher program violates part of the constitution that bars the state from using tax dollars "in aid of" religious institutions. If the Supreme Court agrees, it could be a huge setback for Bush, who has made vouchers a focus of his controversial efforts to overhaul Florida's education system. Backers of the program dispute it is unconstitutional, though it pays for children to attend church schools. They argue, in part, that the program is designed to aid children who otherwise would go to low-performing public schools. "We're hopeful that they (justices) will protect the rights of parents to make choices . . . where they have no other option because the schools have failed," Bush said. But opponents say the program clearly violates language that has been part of the constitution for more than a century. They say the tax dollars go to carrying out the "religious missions" of schools and that many families receiving vouchers have few other private-school choices. "The money is going to go to sectarian (religious) schools, if it is going to go anywhere," said Ron Meyer, a Tallahassee attorney who has helped represent a coalition of opponents in the case. The battle stems from the Legislature's approval in 1999 of Bush's so-called "A-plus" education plan, which included the annual grading of public schools. Under the plan, students can receive vouchers -- or "opportunity scholarships," as Bush and lawmakers have dubbed them -- to transfer to private schools if their public schools receive failing grades in two out of four years. So far, the number of students transferring to private schools through the program has been relatively small. Statewide, 741 children received the vouchers during the 2004-05 school year, as of a March count, with none in Volusia and Flagler counties. But the Bush plan also helped spawn two similar programs that sent more than 26,000 students to private schools in 2004-05, including more than 500 in Volusia County. One of those programs offers vouchers to students with physical or learning disabilities, while the other gives tax credits to businesses that pay for low-income children to attend private schools. Similarly, Bush and legislative allies proposed a plan this spring that would have led to a further expansion by offering vouchers to students who perform poorly on reading tests. That proposal, which senators killed, could have led to tens of thousands of children receiving vouchers. While the Supreme Court case centers on the initial Bush plan, it is part of a much-broader national fight about vouchers. That is evident as numerous state and national education and religious groups -- ranging from teachers unions to the Florida Catholic Conference -- have filed briefs or participated in the case. Teachers unions and other voucher opponents argue such programs take away money that could otherwise be used to bolster public schools. "My concern is that there's a real agenda against public schools," Volusia County School Board Chairwoman Candace Lankford said. But Bush and other voucher supporters say the programs offer choices to low-income families who often can't afford to pay for their children to attend private schools. "Simply put, the Florida Constitution does not dictate that only the wealthy may send their children to private schools, while parents of lesser means are forced to accept even demonstrably inadequate services from their local public schools," said a brief filed by the Institute for Justice, a Washington-based group that represents parents of voucher students. Though the Florida Constitution has included language since the late 1800s that bars using tax dollars to aid religious institutions, the state has long paid church-affiliated organizations for services such as providing health care to the poor. Supporters of the vouchers program contend a wide range of services could be jeopardized if the Supreme Court finds the program unconstitutional. Institute for Justice attorney Clark Neily, for example, said the Bright Futures university scholarship program -- and potentially even the state's new prekindergarten program -- could be deemed unconstitutional because they allow students to receive tax dollars to go to religiously affiliated schools. "What is the difference between this (voucher) program and Bright Futures?" Neily asked. But Meyer called that a "parade of horribles" argument and said the other programs are not part of the case. He and other attorneys wrote in a brief that the vouchers program differs, at least in part, because it makes it possible for schools and churches to "inculcate" religious beliefs in children they would not otherwise reach. Nevertheless, Meyer said the case could jeopardize the voucher program for children with disabilities. That program, which is similar to Bush's plan, served nearly 16,000 children in 2004-05, including 228 in Volusia. The Supreme Court typically takes months to rule on lawsuits, so it appears unlikely that the case will be resolved before children return to school in August. What's more, Meyer said, the case poses difficult legal questions. "These are important constitutional issues that the Supreme Court is going to wrestle with, I suspect," he said. jim.saunders@news-jrnl.com The Florida Times-Union June 6, 2005 Implications wide in school voucher case By J. TAYLOR RUSHING Capital Bureau Chief PENSACOLA -- Ruth Holmes and Brenda McShane live just 25 minutes from each other in the neighborhoods near Pensacola Bay. Both sent their children through the same Escambia County school system, both devoted decades of their lives to careers in education, and both believe in not looking back. -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Yet Holmes and McShane are worlds apart on the question of whether Florida should allow public money for a private education. And their differences are at the core of the school voucher debate that lands before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday and will affect all 67 school districts. Justices will convene in Tallahassee to hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of the 6-year-old Opportunity Scholarship program, one of Gov. Jeb Bush's most prized programs, which is sending 720 students to private schools. The vouchers are offered for students at any public school that receives failing grades from the state at least twice in a four-year period. A court decision is not expected immediately. But when it comes, it could have a domino effect on a long list of other state programs that include the religious community. Since Florida's voucher program was the nation's first, widespread national effects also are coming, no matter what the seven judges decide. 2 tales, 2 stances -------------------------------------------------- Holmes -------------------------------------------------- Holmes, a Navarre Beach mother of two grown children, spent 35 years teaching elementary schools in Pensacola and was the president of the state teachers union in 1983-85. She agreed to be the lead plaintiff in the case because she said vouchers create an unfair split in what should be an all-inclusive public education system. "They take money away from a school system that is already hurting, and they're against the Florida Constitution," Holmes said. "I don't have any objection to private schools. Parents send their kids there for all sorts of reasons. But it's not right for my public tax dollars to pay for it." But McShane, a 31-year Head Start official in Pensacola, said public schools failed the first three of her four children through a lack of attention. Six years ago she finally removed her youngest child, Brenisha, now 12, from the public school system and sent her to a private, non-religious school on an Opportunity Scholarship. When lawyers from the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm in Washington, asked if she was willing to be a figurehead in the case, McShane readily agreed. "If the scholarships would have been available earlier, I would have used them for all four of my children," she said. "I am so thankful for them. I know some people out there are concerned about them. But Brenisha is getting more individualized attention. There's a team approach, with me included. She's more self-confident. I was disappointed at what I was getting for my first three kids, and they're still struggling in life because of it." The lawsuit originated in Pensacola because the voucher program was launched there at two inner-city elementary schools. Those schools are no longer in the program. One closed and reopened as a secondary alternative school; the other improved its grades. Legal last word Bush, who was in Jacksonville Friday to sign the state's new Medicaid legislation, said he was proud of the program but acknowledged judges may disagree. "I am not a lawyer and I'll let the Supreme Court make up its mind about the legality of this," Bush said. "Depending on what they decide, we'll respond. I do know that the Opportunity Scholarship program has provided 800 parents and 800 children a chance to move to a school of their choice. ... The fact that there is that option has created a catalyst to improve the underperforming schools of our state." It is such a bitterly divisive case that there is perhaps only one area on which all sides agree -- the need for a legal last word on Florida's six-year experiment. "This showdown is the most important case in recent history to go before the justices," said Andrew Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. "We need an answer to the constitutionality of it." The arguments over Florida's school voucher program have implications that reach from local school districts to national politics. But the two basic questions before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday are fairly simple: Do vouchers violate the state constitution's ban on public money to religious schools, and do they shortchange public education? Specifically, the Florida Constitution prohibits state money from "directly or indirectly" aiding any church, sect or religious denomination -- and more than half of the 700 students using vouchers are using them to attend religious schools. The second question centers on a clause in the state constitution that was expanded by voters in the 1990s to require the state to ensure an "efficient, safe, secure and high-quality" public education system. That requirement is being violated, voucher opponents say, when public money is diverted to private schools. Lower courts have ruled against the voucher program four times since 1999, although the program has been allowed to continue during appeals. Voucher supporters say those lower courts didn't have to consider the consequences of such rulings on other social service programs, as the Supreme Court must now do. Voucher opponents call that a scare tactic and say the past rulings prove the program is unconstitutional. Voucher supporters such as Bush, Republican legislators and some religious leaders say the program expands choices for parents and is aimed solely at helping students, not religions. "The real question is whether it constitutes aid to a religious institution, and our position is 'absolutely not,'" said Clark Neily, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice. "Think of it this way: Whenever there's a scholarship awarded, does that go to the college or the student? It goes to the student. We recognize others see it differently, but we believe this aid is going to parents and children to expand their opportunities. Any benefit to a religious institution is purely incidental." But opponents say vouchers represent a clear and unmistakable path of money from taxpayers' pockets to religious institutions. "That's the key. This is state money, and the record shows it's being used for religious values," said Tallahassee lawyer Ron Meyer, who represents voucher opponents. "These are largely sectarian, religious schools and they have not altered their programs. There's nothing wrong with that. You just can't use the state treasury to pay for it." Duval County School Board Chairwoman Nancy Broner also noted what even some voucher supporters admit -- there is a troubling lack of accountability measures in place in the program. This spring, the Legislature rejected proposals to boost such accountability. Broner's point is that without those measures, even parents who want to use vouchers for their children have no way to evaluate a particular private school. Students at private schools, for example, don't have to take the state's performance-measuring Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. "What's purported to be parental choice is actually a disservice to parents because you're not being given equal information," Broner said. "Some parents feel their needs are met best in a private setting, but a year or two or three down the road, they find it's lacking and they bring these kids back to us." Times-Union writer Urvaksh Karkaria contributed to this report. jt.rushingjacksonville.com, (850) 224-7515, extension 11 School vouchers challenge goes to Florida Supreme Court Ruling of justices is expected to have national repercussions. By Linda Kleindienst Tallahassee Bureau Chief Ft. Ludersdale Sun Sentinel June 6, 2005 TALLAHASSEE -- Six years after it began, the legal battle over Florida's private school voucher program will finally land in the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. On one side will be retired teacher Ruth Holmes, who wants tax dollars raised for education to remain in public schools, which she thinks are underfunded. The opposing camp will include parents such as Mary Jane Soto of Miami, who credits a state voucher with rescuing her son from a failing public school and giving him a better academic future. At stake is the future of Opportunity Scholarships, the nation's only statewide voucher program and a cornerstone of the education reform agenda that Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through the Legislature in 1999, his first year in office. The program allows students to obtain tax-funded vouchers to attend a private school if the public school to which they are assigned has earned two F's from the state in a four-year period. The vouchers, which are sent directly to the parents, are worth about $4,200 each. The legal wrangling is focused primarily on a provision in the Florida Constitution that prohibits any money from the state treasury from being used "directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination or in any ... of any sectarian institution." It was first put into the state's constitution in 1868, when anti-Catholic sentiments ran rampant throughout the country, especially in the South. Two lower courts have declared the program unconstitutional. But Attorney General Charlie Crist calls "archaic" the section of the constitution used to strike down vouchers. "It was set up to be discriminatory against Catholics, and it's never appropriate to discriminate against anyone," Crist said. Vouchers, he said, benefit the student, not the institution. "And I think we will be successful," he added, "because children certainly deserve a choice." Of the 741 students who now receive vouchers to attend private school under the Opportunity Scholarship program, 432 attend religious schools. One of them is Spencer Soto, a 16-year-old from Miami who just finished his sophomore year at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School. He became eligible for a voucher two years ago after Booker T. Washington High School got its second F. Three other nearby public high schools were also double F schools. Mary Jane Soto said that when she was unsuccessful at getting her son into magnet programs offered by better public high schools, she finally turned to the nearby parochial school just north of downtown Miami. "We tried all the legal ways to get into a better public school. People in good neighborhoods even offered to let me use their address, but I said that isn't the right thing to do," she said. "When I heard about Opportunity Scholarships, I said it would be a godsend. We just were frantic about having him go to a double F school but we couldn't afford to send him to a private school." This year, Spencer got an A in high school geometry and now wants to study math, science or maybe even engineering in college. "He always thought he was bad in math because he didn't do well. Now he tutors others," his mother said. "His grades have gone way up. He is interested in college when before he wasn't even interested in school. I'd be frantic if the Supreme Court decides we can't have these any more." Immediately after Bush signed the voucher bill into law, the legal challenge was launched by a coalition of education, civic and civil rights groups, including the state's teachers union, the Florida PTA, the League of Women Voters and the NAACP, along with retired teacher Ruth Holmes of Navarre Beach, a 35-year public school veteran. Beside violating Florida's constitutional separation of church and state, they contend, the program transfers public money to private schools in violation of a 1998 amendment to the constitution that guarantees "a uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education." Holmes, 64, said the problem with vouchers is that they drain needed funds from a public school system that already doesn't get enough money from the state. "I'm not against private schools," said the former elementary school teacher. "If parents want to send their children to private or religious schools, that's their choice. But I don't think taxpayer dollars should pay for it. Public education is the greatest thing going and we'll fight with everything we have to protect it." Both sides agree that whatever ruling the Florida Supreme Court ultimately hands, it will decide the future direction of education in Florida and possibly elsewhere. "It will determine whether Florida continues to fund a dual public-private school system," said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. "We need to focus on improving all public schools for all children." Clark Neily, a Washington, D.C,. lawyer from the Institute for Justice who is representing the voucher parents, ventured that the high court's decision will have an effect on other states considering voucher programs and could affect other Florida programs that funnel money into religious institutions, such as the Bright Futures college scholarship. "I think the Florida Supreme Court will have to focus on the potential consequences of its decision, which the lower courts did not," said Neily, who said the case ultimately could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court. "Dozens of state programs function the same as opportunity scholarships. Why wouldn't they be challenged? If the state has been giving money to religious colleges, why hasn't someone gone after that?" Opponents of vouchers reject such far-reaching ramifications, saying their lawsuit was geared to challenge only one program -- Opportunity Scholarships. It does not challenge the state's two other voucher programs serving thousands of students, the McKay Scholarship for the disabled and a corporate tax voucher program designed to help poor students. "They're raising the specter of calamity and that's painting this with too broad a brush," said Ron Meyer, a Tallahassee lawyer who has represented the teachers in the case. "Public funds can be used to pay a fireman to put out a church fire. That's not going to violate the constitution." John Kennedy of the Tallahassee Bureau contributed to this report. Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214. Voucher battle heads to court The Florida Supreme Court will hear Bush vs. Holmes this week, with many educational and religious issues in the balance. By RON MATUS, St. Pete Times Staff Writer Published June 6, 2005 Call it a culture war showdown. Competing factions will square off over race, religion and education Tuesday when they argue the school voucher case before the Florida Supreme Court. At direct issue in Bush vs. Holmes is Florida's Opportunity Scholarships program, created by Gov. Jeb Bush in 1999 to allow children in failing public schools to attend private schools at state expense. The court's decision, which could come before school starts in August, will immediately affect about 700 children using the vouchers. But much more is hanging in the balance, including thorny questions about how to improve public schools and where to draw the line between church and state. Both sides are predicting doomsday if they lose. If vouchers go down, supporters say a host of other state programs with links to religious organizations could fall, including the wildly popular Bright Futures scholarships for college students and the state's fledgling prekindergarten program. Meanwhile, voucher opponents say court approval for Opportunity Scholarships would open the door to "universal vouchers" - vouchers for anybody and everybody - leading to the demise of public schools. In one corner is Bush, a Republican who has never hesitated to push controversial school initiatives. His supporters include a long list of conservative think tanks and legal foundations. In the other corner: the National Education Association, which is the nation's largest teachers union and a pillar of the Democratic Party. It is backed by a who's who of liberal groups, including the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Jewish Congress. Legal experts say the fight is impossible to handicap. Florida's high court rarely deals with church-state issues, so there are few rulings to analyze for patterns. And two of the seven justices are recent appointees. The court's track record is "so skimpy that anything I or anyone else says is almost purely speculative," says Steve Gey, a professor of constitutional law at Florida State University. Bush vs. Holmes isn't likely to plow new legal ground nationally. The U.S. Supreme Court sanctioned vouchers in 2002. And vouchers remain an issue in Florida only because the state Constitution has different - and some say more restrictive - language than the U.S. Constitution. But the fight in Florida still has enormous symbolic value. The Florida program is the first and only statewide voucher program in the nation - the "crown jewel of school choice programs," says Clinton Bolick, head of the Alliance for School Choice in Phoenix. To have it struck down, he says, "would be a very stinging defeat." * * * Behind the voucher debate are parents like Susan Watson and Mary Jane Soto. Watson of Pensacola is a plaintiff in Bush vs. Holmes . Her two youngest children attend Pensacola High, where she says they're getting a "fabulous education." Her oldest, a Pensacola High grad, is now at the University of Chicago, a top-tier school. "I don't want my tax dollars being thrown into the garbage, being thrown into schools that we don't monitor or test," says Watson, a computer technician. Her fear: That voucher supporters will privatize public schools, leaving a system of mostly Christian schools in their wake. She says she and her children have special reason to worry: They're Jewish. In Miami, Soto has a different take on vouchers. She didn't want to send her 16-year-old son, Spencer, to nearby Booker T. Washington High, which earned a D last year after two F's. So she applied to several magnet schools. Her son wasn't admitted. But thanks to an Opportunity Scholarship, he'll be a junior next year at a Catholic school, Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame. Opportunity vouchers are offered to students at schools that have earned F grades in two of the past four years. Only 21 schools in the state fit the bill (none in the Tampa Bay area) and only a small percentage of eligible students from those schools are participating. But those who do are often quick to offer praise. Students at Curley are "told they can do whatever they want as long as they put their mind to it," says Soto, a computer analyst who says she can't afford private school. "I don't think they get that feeling in other schools." Soto, who is Catholic, says she and her son didn't choose a school for religious reasons. It's not the school that's benefiting from vouchers, she says. It's her son. * * * The hopes and fears of Watson and Soto echo throughout the legal arguments, which hinge on two sections of the Florida Constitution. One mandates the state provide a "system of free public schools." The other prohibits state money from being used "in aid of" religion. Voucher opponents say the Constitution requires the state to support public schools, and public schools alone. In court filings, they say the framers recognized that public schools prepare students to be good citizens because they foster interaction of children from "diverse walks of life." But voucher supporters say there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents the Legislature from taking action to make public schools better. By introducing competition into the system, they say, vouchers have forced public schools to improve, particularly those that serve black and Hispanic students. "It is the threat of vouchers that holds public school feet to the fire," Bolick says. Racial dynamics are in play here. So are competing visions of education reform. Some 95 percent of Opportunity Scholarship recipients are black or Hispanic, and on Tuesday, 2,000 people are expected to attend a provoucher rally in Tallahassee, many of them minorities. More cynical observers have suggested that provoucher groups are using minorities to leverage universal vouchers. Others say vouchers are a diversion from more expensive initiatives they believe are more likely to help, including better teachers and smaller class sizes. "There are those of us who believe there is - I won't call it a plot, but a plan - to destroy public schools," says Gerald Bracey, a fellow at the Educational Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University who has written extensively about vouchers. "Vouchers are part of that plan." Groups like the Alliance for School Choice do, in fact, support universal vouchers. Yet polls consistently show strong support for vouchers among black and Hispanic parents. That shouldn't be surprising, says Leon Tucker, spokesman for the Washington, D.C., Black Alliance for Educational Options, which is helping to organize the Tallahassee rally. "These are the families that don't have choice," he says. * * * Voucher opponents say the Florida Constitution's wording on church and state is clear and direct: No public money "shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination." Vouchers enable religious schools to "bring their religious message to children whom they otherwise would be unable to reach," the opponents argue in court filings. "Providing a "Christ-centered and gospel-based education' is, as one school principal testified, "why we exist."' A trial judge agreed with the opponents. So did the appeals court. But supporters say vouchers don't aid churches; they aid students and parents. If religion benefits, it's incidental. The voucher law, they note, prohibits participating schools from forcing students to pray or profess a religious belief. And they say the Florida Supreme Court has backed similar programs. In 1970, it sided with a Presbyterian church that operated an elderly group home and wanted to take advantage of a tax exemption for such facilities. Religious discrimination is at issue, too. To deny religious schools the same opportunities as other private schools would violate the right to free exercise of religion, voucher supporters say. Some even assert that religious bias motivated the church-state wording in Florida's Constitution. At issue are "Blaine amendments," which were added to a number of state constitutions in the 19th century, including Florida's. Named for Sen. James Blaine of Maine, the amendments were pushed in some states by Protestants who feared the influx of Catholic immigrants and the rise of Catholic schools. But in other quarters, says Gey, the FSU law professor, amendment supporters were not bigots, but "part of a long history in this country of opposition to government financing of religion." In Florida, there is no evidence of anti-Catholic bias in the amendment's history, he says. And for voucher supporters to argue otherwise is "a public relations gambit." Supporters also argue that a ruling against vouchers would "lead to absurd and obviously unintended consequences" - namely, the demise of other state programs that also allow taxpayer money to flow to religious institutions. They include Florida's two other voucher programs; its Bright Futures scholarships and just-hatched pre-K program; perhaps even state-funded medical care at hospitals with religious ties. Opponents concede some programs might be at risk, including McKay vouchers for special education students and pre-K. But they say there is a big difference between fee-for-services transactions, like those involving medical care, and vouchers that help churches push "religious missions." * * * No matter what the Supreme Court decides, the voucher battle is unlikely to end. Prompted by the court case, state Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, said last year that he was considering a constitutional amendment that would make it easier to channel state money to religious schools. And one political scientist says he wouldn't be surprised if an antivoucher ruling gave conservatives a golden election issue: an out-of-control judiciary. "They could ride it for another two- or four-year cycle," says University of Central Florida professor Aubrey Jewett. Bush, in particular, stands to come out ahead, Jewett says. His support for vouchers has cemented his standing with religious conservatives and allowed him to make inroads with minority voters. Whatever the court decision, Bush can say he tried. --Ron Matus can be reached at matus@sptimes.com or 727 893-8873. © Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserve Jun 6, 2005 Voucher Fight Hits High Court By MARILYN BROWN, Tampa Tribune mbrown@tampatrib.com TAMPA - Tuesday's Florida Supreme Court hearing will last only an hour, but both sides agree the outcome will be huge. At stake is the nation's first statewide school voucher program and whether it will stand. It has nationwide interest as other states wrestle with their own versions of paying parochial school tuition with public money. The fallout could affect the state's other larger school voucher programs as well as Florida's new universal prekindergarten program, struggling to get off the ground in August. ``This is one of the most important cases in the history of Florida,'' said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the parties that originally sued the state, saying vouchers are unconstitutional. Ron Meyer, the Tallahassee attorney for the group that includes national and state teachers unions challenging vouchers, called the case ``a watershed case in constitutional law.'' Meyer said he is confident the higher court will uphold the August ruling of the 1st District Court of Appeal, which said the state's program is unconstitutional. If the ruling stands, he and others agreed, it's likely someone will challenge the constitutionality of the state's other voucher programs. Meanwhile, voucher supporters said they likely will be appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose. Tuesday's case focuses on a specific Florida voucher, one given students in schools that the state ranks as failing two out of four years. Called Opportunity Scholarships, they're worth the cost of a public school education and can be applied toward tuition at religious schools. In Holmes et. al. v. Bush, the plaintiffs claim that practice violates a state constitutional amendment's prohibition on giving public money to sectarian organizations. Florida has two other voucher programs: one for disabled students and another funded with corporate tax money. A voucher-based prekindergarten program begins in August. Simon said the ACLU has particular concern for Florida's new universal prekindergarten program, which is dependent on religious schools to provide enough slots for all the 4-year-olds whose families want it. Simon said that young group is particularly impressionable, and the ACLU unsuccessfully asked legislators not to allow religious instruction as part of that program. Demonstration Planned As the legal battle winds down, voucher supporters are promising to send 2,000 of their own to Tallahassee on Tuesday to support school choice. ``It's been told to me that at some point, all the scholarships are at risk,'' said Kim McDowell, a Tampa mother planning to include her 10-year-old daughter, Rachel, on the Tallahassee trip. No Hillsborough, Pasco or Pinellas students receive the Opportunity Scholarships named in the lawsuit. McDowell's daughter receives a corporate tax scholarship to attend Anointed Word Academy in Tampa, which she prefers to public schools because of its smaller classes. The fact that the school teaches religion is ``a plus,'' McDowell said. Gov. Jeb Bush signed Opportunity Scholarships into law in June 1999, and Escambia County teacher Ruth Holmes and other voucher opponents filed suit the next day. The first vouchers were issued to students in two Pensacola elementary schools that same year. `Sweeping Consequences' Under Bush, Florida's growing voucher programs reported more than 27,000 students using taxpayer money during the 2004-05 school year. Not all attend faith-based schools, but a little more than half using Opportunity Scholarships did, says Clark Neily, attorney for the Institute for Justice, one of the groups defending vouchers. Neily agrees Tuesday's decision potentially can ``have sweeping consequences'' for the other voucher programs. McKay Scholarships, the largest state voucher program with nearly 16,000 students, are for children with disabilities. Corporate scholarships are held by more than 11,000 children of low-income families and divert corporate tax dollars to private and faith-based schools. The newest voucher program, the state's voter-mandated universal prekindergarten program, must be offered to all 4-year-olds whose families want it. Families may choose from participating public, private, faith-based and home providers. Some faith-based prekindergarten providers have said they are waiting for Tuesday's decision, said state officials, who are trying to encourage them to sign up for the program. Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069. ON THE WEB Tuesday's arguments before the Florida Supreme Court may be seen live at 9 a.m. on a webcast at WFSU.org. Scroll down to the Florida Channel link. Those in Hillsborough with digital cable television may turn to Channel 35, Brighthouse Networks channel 605, or Comcast Cable 190. This story can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGBQNG55M9E.html

 

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