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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Education Association on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging the recently implemented Utah Fits All voucher program, which gives private schools $82.5 million in public funds.
"This lawsuit is necessary to ensure that public funds remain in public schools, where they can do the most good for all our students," the education association said in a statement.
HB215, passed in January 2023, provides $8,000 scholarships to qualifying families for private schools and other private education options, and gives licensed educators a $6,000 pay raise.
The Utah Education Association was joined in its initial opposition to the bill by the Utah State Board of Education, Utah PTA, school superintendents, business administrators and school boards.
The lawsuit was filed by the Utah Education Association, Kevin Labresh and Terra Cooper on behalf of their children, Amy Barton, and Carol Lear — an elected member of the Utah State Board of Education.
It argues that the law violates Utah’s constitutionally protected right to a free education.
"It diverts income tax revenues to fund private schools that are 1) not free, 2) not open to all students, and 3) not controlled and supervised by the State Board of Education," the lawsuit says.
The group behind the lawsuit is asking a judge to declare the program unconstitutional and permanently stop the law from being implemented, despite the fact that it has been in effect for nearly two years.
Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney called the lawsuit "a decisive step in defending the integrity of our public education system."
"The specifics of the voucher program are troubling. It siphons critical resources from already underfunded public schools to pay for private school vouchers at a rate double what public school students receive," Pinkney said. "This discrepancy is not just unfair, it is a deliberate undermining of public education."
Pinkney referenced comments made by Allison Sorensen, the executive director of Education Opportunity 4 Every Child — a major player in the push for school vouchers — before the passing of HB215 in January 2023.
In recordings posted on the social media platform X that circulated online just hours before the bill’s passing, Sorensen can be heard saying that she wants to "destroy public education" and insinuates that lawmakers do, too — though lawmakers later denounced Sorensen’s comments.
Lear said that besides taking money away from public education, she sees the voucher program as unconstitutional.
"The entities that are filing this lawsuit have worked very hard to analyze the situation, analyze the constitutional issues, look at the federal constitutional issues if there are any and the state constitutional issues and they wanted to get it right," Lear said. "(They) finally concluded it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t constitutional."
Supporters of the voucher program have defended it, arguing that the program gives students a choice in education. The scholarships are currently being allocated to 10,000 Utah students, based first on financial need. ACE Scholarships administers the program and said more than 27,000 students have applied.
In a statement issued after the filing of the lawsuit on Wednesday, Robyn Bagley, executive director of Utah Education Fits All, condemned the lawsuit.
"It’s not at all surprising that as soon as parents are given agency in their children’s education, opposition steps in with desperate attempts to reclaim control and return to the status quo. This lawsuit is noisy activism and a shameful attempt to strip away education options from students and families in Utah. We’re very confident their efforts will not succeed. Utah’s Legislature did its due diligence to pass responsible legislation that was consistent with Utah’s Constitution," Bagley said, in part.
But Labresh, who works as a school psychologist in the Davis School District along with being the parent of a special education student in the district, said he worries that the voucher program is disproportionately impacting students like his son and other students he works with.
"The National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of one school psychologist for every 500 students. Right now, in Utah, that ratio is one school psychologist for over 2,000 students," Labresh said. "So, that makes it really hard for me and my colleagues to be able to provide comprehensive behavior (and) mental health support. I don’t think taking more funds from that is the answer."
The full lawsuit can be found here.
Contributing: Lindsay Aerts
