Tallahassee, USA - Ruth Holmes taught public school for 35 years, raised her children, retired, and in 2000 filed a lawsuit that could bring Gov. Jeb Bush's fundamental education reform plan crashing down.
Bush vs. Holmes will be debated today in Florida's Supreme Court. Holmes' attorneys say Opportunity Scholarships — the nation's first statewide school voucher program — are unconstitutional because they take tax dollars directly from state coffers and give them to private religious schools.
The state and a handful of other defendants argue vouchers benefit children, not religious schools, and hence pass constitutional muster when it comes to a 19th-century amendment banning direct or indirect aid to religious organizations.
On Monday, both sides gathered strength for today's legal showdown, which is being watched nationally as other states grapple with voucher proposals and legislation of their own.
Voucher opponents introduced the plaintiffs in the case — long known for their last names imprinted on legal briefs and decisions — while voucher supporters readied for a 2,000-person march and rally today that city officials said could shut down the street in front of the Supreme Court building.
Holmes, along with Pensacola mother Susan Watson and her children, who are also plaintiffs in the suit, spoke about the importance of keeping public tax dollars in public schools.
"Teachers work just as hard today as they did before Jeb Bush ever mentioned vouchers," Holmes said. "You can't improve and compete when you take money away. Vouchers offer false promises for a few while leaving the rest behind."
Holmes said it's not a religious argument for her, but one about adequately paying for public education.
But it will be a religious argument in the courtroom, and the plaintiffs acknowledged Monday that the ruling could affect other scholarship-type programs such as the new free statewide pre-kindergarten, which relies heavily on religious schools.
"In fact, in truth, some of these may be vulnerable," said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU. But arguments that it will affect programs such as Medicaid, which sends payments to hospitals with religious affiliations, are "sheer nonsense," he said. Religious organizations that run hospitals usually do so through a nonprofit organization, which sets up a degree of separation between the hospital and religion, he said.
Voucher supporters, however, are counting on the Supreme Court to take into consideration the effects their decision on vouchers could have on other programs.
"What we are trying to do is show the rest of the state that this could have a phenomenal effect on students who are dependent on other scholarships," said Leon Tucker, director of communications for the Washingtonbased Black Alliance for Educational Options, which will have several representatives at the rally.