School Choice

Florida voters face a referendum this fall on whether or not to repeal the state’s Blaine Amendment, a state constitutional provision that prohibits direct state aid to religiously affiliated schools. All but 11 U.S. states have similar constitution al provisions (which are called “Blaine Amendments” after former Maine Senator James Blaine, who sought and failed to pass such an amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the 1870s). The Florida Supreme Court struck down a private school voucher program in 2004 because it violated the amendment, so school choice advocates are seeking to repeal the provision in order to clear the way for voucher programs in the state.

The Florida vote raises questions about the role of faith-based providers in publicly funded pre-k programs. Faith-based providers play a major role in delivering pre-k under Florida’s universal pre-k program, and Patricia Levesque, who pushed to put the Blaine referendum on the ballot this fall, has told reporters that the Blaine amendment could imperil these arrangements. Others, including the head of the Florida ACLU, disagree with this interpretation, however, saying that social service providers--including pre-k providers--who offer largely secular services in a nondiscriminatory fashion are legally in the clear. So far, no one has used the Blaine amendment to challenge Florida’s universal pre-k program, and such a challenge is highly unlikely.