Florida schools receiving taxpayer funds – including traditional public campuses, charter schools and private schools – operate under starkly different standards – in violation of the state constitution’s requirement that the educational system be uniform, a lawsuit alleges.
The Florida Education Association, parents and civil rights groups filed the lawsuit challenging key aspects of the state’s school-choice and voucher scholarship programs May 5 in the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County. The current educational system, which places more stringent standards for oversight and accountability on traditional public schools, fails to follow the state constitution’s provision for “a uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public schools,” according to the complaint.
“The state now directs approximately $4.9 billion each year in public education funds to private schools and certain charter schools that are not required to follow the same rules as public schools,” the lawsuit says. “By 2025, about 24% of state education funding is going to scholarship programs, up from 12% in 2021.”
Public schools must follow a growing number of regulations involving safety, staffing, services and fiscal accountability, according to the complaint. In 1998, the rules consisted of fewer than 700 pages, but today they exceed 1,400 pages, the plaintiffs argue.
“Meanwhile, charter schools are subject to far fewer requirements, and scholarship-supported private schools operate under a much smaller set of rules – roughly 20 pages of law,” the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs contend the state’s educational system is not uniform but is inconsistent and unequal. Such a system will lead to deficiencies and lower quality, according to the lawsuit.
The Florida Department of Education, one of the defendants, called the lawsuit frivolous and a waste of taxpayer funds and teachers’ dues.
“Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis, every Florida family has access to universal school choice, empowering them to select the learning environment that best fits their child’s individual needs,” Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record. “We stand unapologetically convicted on the principle of always putting students first!”
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the current administration of the state’s 2019 Family Empowerment Scholarship Program and the 1996 Charter School Statute in violation of provisions of the state constitution. They also want the court to declare that exempting private schools receiving public funds from safety standards public schools must follow is unconstitutional.
As long as these educational disparities exist, the public funding of the voucher program and charter schools should be enjoined, the lawsuit says.
“We have spent years working with lawmakers to address the concerns of parents, educators and now, even the state auditor general regarding the inconsistencies in Florida’s non-uniform education system,” Andrew Spar, the Florida Education Association’s president, said in a prepared statement. “But once again, lawmakers have let down Florida’s students and families, and we are left with no choice but to turn to the courts.”
The teachers union argues that the funding of the state’s public schools has lagged behind inflation and that currently Florida ranks 50th nationwide in average teacher salaries and 41st in per-student funding.
The vast majority of Floridians want public school programs strengthened rather than abandoned, Spar said.
