Florida School Choice

Holmes v. Bush
Institute for Justice and Parents Defend Florida’s Groundbreaking Statewide School Choice Program

In 1999, Florida passed the nation’s first statewide school choice program, Opportunity Scholarships, which enabled students to opt out of failing public schools and into better-performing public or private schools. The program has provided educational opportunities for hundreds of students while spurring real, measurable improvement in Florida’s most troubled public schools.

Nonetheless, one day after the program became law, teachers’ unions and other special interest groups challenged Opportunity Scholarships as a violation of the Florida and U.S. constitutions. IJ intervened to defend the program on behalf of families using school choice and the Urban League of Greater Miami, Inc.

After nearly seven years of litigation, the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 struck down Opportunity Scholarships as a violation of the state constitution’s “uniformity” clause, which requires the state to provide a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools.” The court did not address the unions’ claim that the program violated the Florida Constitution’s Blaine Amendment.

IJ and its allies are exploring all options to save the scholarships of students who rely on them for the only good education they have ever known, as well as to protect Florida’s other school choice programs for disabled and low-income students.