Bush v. Holmes
919 So. 2d 392, 2006 WL 20584 (2006)
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Rule of Law:
Article IX, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, which makes it the state's paramount duty to provide for the education of all children, requires this be done through a uniform system of free public schools. The use of public funds to establish a parallel system of private school education through vouchers violates this constitutional mandate.
Facts:
- The Florida Legislature enacted the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), codified at section 1002.38, Florida Statutes.
- The OSP provided state-funded scholarships to students assigned to public schools that the state had designated as failing.
- Parents of eligible students could use these scholarships to pay for tuition at participating private schools, including sectarian institutions.
- The funds for the OSP scholarships were transferred directly from the appropriated funds of the student's public school district.
- Private schools participating in the OSP were not required to meet the same standards as public schools regarding curriculum, teacher certification, or academic accountability.
- While OSP students had to take statewide assessment tests, the participating private schools only had to be academically accountable to the parent and meet criteria from a nonpublic accrediting body.
Procedural Posture:
- Ruth D. Holmes and other plaintiffs filed complaints in the Leon County Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).
- The trial court found the OSP facially unconstitutional under Article IX, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution.
- On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court, concluding that Article IX, Section 1 did not prohibit the OSP.
- The Florida Supreme Court denied discretionary review, and the case was remanded to the trial court.
- Following remand and a U.S. Supreme Court decision on a similar Ohio program, the plaintiffs dismissed their federal claims.
- The circuit court then granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs on state law grounds, finding the OSP violated the 'no aid' provision of Article I, Section 3.
- The First District Court of Appeal, sitting en banc, affirmed the trial court's order finding the OSP unconstitutional.
- Governor Jeb Bush and other state officials appealed to the Supreme Court of Florida, which has mandatory jurisdiction because a state statute was declared unconstitutional.
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Issue:
Does Florida's Opportunity Scholarship Program, which uses public funds to pay for students to attend private schools, violate Article IX, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution by diverting resources from the constitutionally mandated 'uniform... system of free public schools'?
Opinions:
Majority - Chief Justice Pariente
Yes. Florida's Opportunity Scholarship Program violates Article IX, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution because the constitution mandates that the state's paramount duty to provide for education must be fulfilled through a uniform system of free public schools. The court reasoned that the constitutional provision's second and third sentences must be read together ('in pari materia'). The second sentence establishes the state's 'paramount duty' to educate children, and the third sentence specifies the exclusive method for doing so: by making 'adequate provision ... for a uniform ... system of free public schools.' Applying the principle of 'expressio unius est exclusio alterius,' the court found that by prescribing a specific manner for funding education (public schools), the constitution implicitly forbids doing so in a substantially different manner (funding private schools). The OSP unconstitutionally diverts public funds to a parallel, non-uniform system of private schools that competes with and undermines the public school system.
Dissenting - Justice Bell
No. Florida's Opportunity Scholarship Program does not violate Article IX, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution because the text does not explicitly prohibit the legislature from creating supplemental educational programs alongside the public school system. The dissent argued that the majority improperly used maxims of statutory construction to invent an exclusivity requirement not present in the plain language of the constitution. The constitution mandates that the state make adequate provision for a system of free public schools, but it does not state that this is the sole or exclusive means of supporting education. Statutes are presumed constitutional and should only be invalidated if they are clearly contrary to an express or necessarily implied prohibition, which the dissent argues the OSP is not. The dissent contended there was no evidence that the limited OSP prevented the state from fulfilling its mandate to adequately fund the public school system.
Analysis:
This decision establishes that the Florida Constitution's education clause is not just a directive to fund public schools, but a limitation on the legislature's power to fund alternative, private K-12 educational systems with public money. By interpreting the 'uniform system of free public schools' language as the exclusive means for the state to fulfill its educational duty, the court set a high bar against school voucher programs in Florida. The ruling significantly impacts education policy by invalidating a key school choice initiative and reinforcing the constitutional primacy of the public school system, forcing proponents of private school choice to seek other funding mechanisms or a constitutional amendment.
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