Are Florida school vouchers constitutional? Both sides want an answer
Tampa Bay Times | Jeffrey S. Solochek | May 7, 2026
When foes of Florida’s school vouchers sought standard bearers to lead a lawsuit challenging the $5 billion system, Stephanie Vanos didn’t hesitate.
“I want to do whatever I can to support our public schools,” said Vanos, an Orange County parent and school board member who stressed that her role as plaintiff is separate from her public office.
A lawyer with a history of activism in Democratic-leaning education issues, Vanos said she long has believed the state’s funding model for school choice programs such as vouchers and charters is unconstitutional for all the reasons set forth in the lawsuit. She had been hopeful, though, that lawmakers might take steps alleviate the need for a legal challenge.
“I would have preferred them to have done something,” Vanos said, pointing to Senate legislation aimed at resolving problems uncovered in a recent state audit as one example. “But they didn’t.”
And while the time frame for a court case might be lengthy, as demonstrated by a nearly decade-long funding adequacy lawsuit that ended in 2019, she suggested the possibility of a ruling in the plaintiff’s favor makes it worth the try.
“We can’t sit back and wait” for the Legislature, Vanos said.
Former governor Jeb Bush, meanwhile, issued a statement Wednesday expressing his hope that the latest suit will put to rest any dispute over the legality of vouchers.
He tried to put them into law more than 20 years ago, only to have the state Supreme Court toss the concept on the Florida Constitution’s uniformity clause, the same language the plaintiffs are relying on now.
“Florida families deserve a diverse system of choice, not for special interest groups to constantly stand in their way of making that choice,” Bush said, calling the lawsuit a desperate attempt to overturn the nation’s largest choice program. “Let’s hope the Florida Supreme Court takes this opportunity to overturn Bush v. Holmes once and for all.”
