Judge rules on outstanding matters in Utah school choice legal battle — clearing way for appeals
In the ongoing legal battle to decide the fate of the Utah Fits All Scholarship program, a judge Monday ruled on a pair of outstanding issues that were preventing the case from moving on to the expected appeals process.
Last month, 3rd District Judge Laura Scott ruled that the divisive school voucher program currently being utilized by thousands of Utah children was unconstitutional.
In her April 18 decision against the program, Scott said that because the Utah Fits All program is created by the Legislature and a publicly funded educational program, it must satisfy the constitutional requirements applicable to the 'public education system' set forth in the Utah Constitution.
The Legislature, added Scott, does not have the authority 'to circumvent these constitutional requirements by simply declining to 'designate' the program as part of the public education system.'
A few days later, Scott decided the school voucher program could continue pending the expected defendants' appeal before the Utah Supreme Court.
On Monday, Scott ruled on a couple of outstanding 'claims for relief' issued by the lawsuit's group plaintiffs that includes the Utah Education Association and several individuals.
'Given its ruling that the Program is unconstitutional under article X and article XIII of the Utah Constitution, the court concludes that Plaintiffs' Third Claim for Relief and Fourth Claim for Relief are moot,' wrote the judge in her ruling.
However, Scott still opted to formally rule Monday on the two claims that she did not address last month 'for purposes of completeness for appeal.'
In other words, the defendants in the case against the school voucher program — which includes Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown — can now move forward with the appeals process.
The two outstanding plaintiff claims focused primarily on the legality of the Utah Fits All Scholarship program being managed and overseen by private entities. Scott dismissed both claims Monday after articulating lengthy legal analysis in her ruling.
'The court concludes that these claims are not independent and/or alternative grounds for declaring the Program unconstitutional,' the judge wrote. 'Accordingly, the court dismisses Plaintiffs' Third and Fourth Claims for Relief.'
The state was sued by the Utah Education Association, along with plaintiffs Kevin Labresh, Terra Cooper, Amy Barton and Carol Lear, in 2023, after the school voucher program was enacted.
The Utah Fits All Scholarship program gives eligible K-12 students up to $8,000 a year for private school tuition and other costs. It went into effect in the fall of 2024.
The teachers union argued the program violated the Utah Constitution because it diverts income tax revenue to fund private schools.
Scott agreed with the union and other plaintiffs in last month's ruling, saying the program violated sections of the state Constitution that require the state to fund a public education system open to every student that is free of charge, and to use state income tax to fund public schools and to support children and people with disabilities.
Proponents of the program argued the program did not affect the state's system of public schools, but was in addition to that constitutional requirement, and that it cleared the bar of using income tax to support children.
Scott's ruling Monday on the two previously outstanding plaintiffs' claims comes days after the state filed an unopposed petition for permission 'to file interlocutory appeal' with the Utah Supreme Court.
The petition revealed the urgency likely shared by both parties to move the case forward through the legal process for final disposition.
'While the district court said it would decide Plaintiffs' third and fourth claims in the near future, the case will still not be final and eligible for direct appeal until the lower court orders relief,' read the petition.
'And no party wants that to happen yet — before this Court can review and decide the merits — given the stakes of enjoining the Program: stopping educational benefits for thousands of Utah children and voiding part of teacher salary raises.'
Scott's ruling Monday essentially addresses the issues raised in the interlocutory appeal, pending a response from the Utah Supreme Court.
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