Florida Teachers Union Sues Over $4 Billion School Choice Program, Claims Constitutional Violation

The Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit in state circuit court in Leon County this month challenging Florida's universal school choice scholarship program as unconstitutional, setting up a legal battle that could affect more than 900,000 students who rely on state-funded vouchers to attend private and charter schools. The FEA argues that funneling billions of public education dollars to private institutions that are not held to the same standards as public schools violates the Florida Constitution's requirement for a uniform, efficient, and high-quality system of free public education.

What the Lawsuit Claims

The 39-page complaint filed in Leon County circuit court by FEA President Andrew Spar and other plaintiffs centers on the Family Empowerment Scholarship program, which is the primary vehicle for Florida's universal school choice policy. The lawsuit also challenges the broader framework under which the state funds charter schools.

The FEA argues that private schools and charter schools receiving taxpayer dollars through vouchers and scholarships are not required to meet the same accountability standards as traditional public schools. Florida's public schools must employ certified teachers, follow state curriculum standards, administer standardized tests, and submit to regular state oversight and financial auditing. Private schools receiving scholarship funds operate under a significantly different and less demanding regulatory framework, the lawsuit states.

The Florida Constitution requires the Legislature to provide "a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools." The FEA's lawsuit argues that diverting billions from public education to an unaccountable parallel system violates that mandate, effectively creating a two-tiered education structure that benefits students in private settings at the expense of those who remain in public schools.

The Scale of the Program

The Family Empowerment Scholarship program and related voucher programs have grown dramatically since DeSantis signed universal school choice legislation in 2023, making Florida one of the most expansive school choice states in the country. In the 2024-25 fiscal year alone, the state distributed $3.17 billion in Family Empowerment Scholarship funds and an additional $804.5 million through corporate tax credit scholarships, bringing the total to nearly $4 billion in a single year.

The number of students participating in the various scholarship programs exceeded 900,000 at last count, a remarkable figure that represents a substantial fraction of Florida's total student population. Public school enrollment in Florida has remained relatively stable, but district administrators in several counties have reported that voucher participation has slowed the growth of public school enrollment, affecting per-pupil funding calculations that are tied to enrollment counts.

The just-approved state budget maintains the $4.5 billion allocation for scholarship programs in fiscal year 2026-27, signaling that the Legislature intends to continue expanding and funding school choice regardless of the pending lawsuit.

The Constitutional History

This is not the first time Florida's school choice programs have faced constitutional scrutiny. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the Opportunity Scholarship Program, a predecessor voucher initiative, on uniformity grounds. However, subsequent programs were structured differently, using nonprofit scholarship funding organizations and corporate tax credits in ways that advocates argued removed the programs from the definition of direct public appropriations subject to constitutional restriction.

The current FEA lawsuit argues that legislative evolution has made it impossible to characterize the Family Empowerment Scholarship as anything other than a direct state appropriation, particularly given that the state budget explicitly allocates billions to the program on an annual basis and Governor DeSantis has repeatedly called universal school choice a centerpiece of his education policy.

Constitutional scholars who have analyzed the case say the question of whether the Florida Supreme Court would view the current scholarship programs the same way it viewed the earlier voucher program is genuinely uncertain. The composition of the Florida Supreme Court has changed significantly since 2006, and the current bench includes several justices appointed by DeSantis who have generally taken a more limited view of state constitutional restrictions on legislative authority.

The State's Response

Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas responded to the lawsuit's filing on social media within hours, defending the scholarship programs as a testament to family empowerment and parental rights. The commissioner wrote that every Florida family now has access to universal school choice thanks to the governor's leadership, and characterized the lawsuit as an attack on parents' ability to choose the learning environment best suited to their child's individual needs.

Legal defense of the scholarship programs is expected to be handled by the state attorney general's office in coordination with the Department of Education. Legislative leaders including Speaker Perez have also signaled that the Legislature may seek to join the defense or file amicus briefs supporting the programs. Private school associations and charter management organizations are expected to intervene in the case to protect their interests as well.

What It Means for Students and Families

The lawsuit does not immediately affect any student's scholarship eligibility or school placement. Florida courts are unlikely to issue an emergency injunction halting the program while the case is litigated, given the scale of disruption such an order would cause for nearly one million students and their families. The realistic timeline for a final resolution, including any appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, is measured in years rather than months.

For families currently using vouchers, the practical advice from education advocates on both sides of the issue is to continue making school choices based on their child's needs and not to assume the program will be immediately disrupted. If the courts ultimately rule in the FEA's favor, there would likely be a transition period during which the Legislature would need to either redesign the programs to comply with constitutional requirements or abandon them entirely.

Public school administrators, for their part, have welcomed the lawsuit as a long-overdue accountability challenge. Several district superintendents have noted that public schools are expected to serve all students, including those with disabilities and other special needs, while private schools receiving vouchers can decline to admit students whose needs they cannot or prefer not to serve. They argue the comparison is inherently unequal.

The Broader National Context

Florida's school choice expansion is part of a national movement that has accelerated in the early 2020s. More than a dozen states have enacted or expanded universal or near-universal school choice programs in recent years, often following Florida's legislative model. The legal and political battles playing out in Florida are being watched closely by school choice advocates and opponents in other states facing similar debates.

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Carson v. Makin, which held that states cannot exclude religious schools from public school choice programs that include private secular schools, removed one of the major federal constitutional arguments that opponents had historically used against voucher programs. The FEA's current lawsuit relies exclusively on Florida's state constitution rather than federal constitutional arguments, a strategy that insulates the case from the federal landscape but also means the Florida Supreme Court would have the final word.

What Is Next

The case will proceed through the Leon County circuit court before any appeal to the First District Court of Appeal and ultimately the Florida Supreme Court. Both sides are expected to file extensive briefings, and the litigation is likely to include expert testimony on education finance, constitutional law, and student outcomes data.

The FEA has said it will continue its advocacy on behalf of public school educators and students throughout the litigation. The governor and the Legislature have signaled they will defend the scholarship programs vigorously and are unlikely to modify them in response to the lawsuit unless ordered to do so by a court.