Teachers Union Sues Over Voucher Law

A prominent Florida teachers' union is taking legal action over the state's recently passed voucher law, which would expand Florida's voucher program as well as create personal learning accounts for students with disabilities.

Tom Faasse of the Florida Education Association filed the suit in Leon County against Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida Cabinet and Education Commissioner Pam Stewart over the bill, which passed on the last day of this year's legislative session.The lawsuit seeks to find the legislation unconstitutional.

SB 850 started out as a five-page bill in February and originally aimed to expand Florida's collegiate high school program, but as the legislation made its way through various committees in the Florida House and Senate, additional measures were tacked onto the legislation, eventually resulting in the bill expanding to 40 pages addressing a variety of issues and subjects related to education.

Faasse argues the legislation contains too many subjects -- under the Florida Constitution, the Legislature has restricted authority to create laws and each law must "embrace but one subject" which should also be expressed in the bill's title. The FEA alleges that the bill violates the Constitution for this reason.

Is this any way to pass laws? Faasse said. The people of Florida should expect that laws are clearly expressed and properly vetted and that laws that failed to pass shouldnt be tacked onto unrelated legislation at the eleventh hour.

FEA Vice President Joanne McCall also expressed discontentment over the last-minute additions.

Its an outrage that corporate voucher expansion was tacked onto an unrelated bill and slipped into law on the sessions final day, McCall said. These voucher schools have little regulation, dont have to follow the states academic standards, dont have to hire qualified teachers and dont have to prove to the state that they are using public money wisely. Theres no link between vouchers and gains in student achievement. Yet the Legislature continues to expand voucher schools instead of providing proper funding for our neighborhood public schools.

Faasse's filing drew criticism from some education advocacy groups in the state, which called the lawsuit "a new low" for the FEA.

"It is shameful that [the FEA] would spend teachers hard-earned dollars to block opportunities for our most vulnerable students," said Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.As a society, we must work to unlock education opportunities for students who need them the most. Senate Bill 850 will help children with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities have greater choices and the critical support necessary for successful education outcomes.There are those who believe families should have options and trust parents in those decisions for their kids. And sadly, there are those who find educational choices threatening to their political power.

The FEAs actions send a message that it is OK to overlook some students. This is wrong. The parents and students waiting in line for these options deserve better.

View the complainthere.