JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Your tax dollars could soon go directly to religious schools, via college scholarships or even overtly religious charter schools.
Florida’s Attorney General issued an opinion ahead of Easter Sunday declaring his office will not enforce state restrictions on religious institutions receiving public funding.
Those restrictions go all the way back to 1885, when the “no aid” provision was added to Florida’s constitution.
State laws also prohibit some state scholarships and grants from being used at private religious colleges, and while some public charter schools are owned by or affiliated with churches, they must provide nonreligious instruction.
But now, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier contends those restrictions are unconstitutional.
“Florida’s Constitution rightly recognizes that ‘[w]e, the people of the State of Florida,’ are ‘grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty’,” Uthmeier wrote. “That constitutional liberty includes the right for religious people and entities to participate in public programs and benefits like everyone else.”
Executive Director of the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, Dr. Howard Burke, applauded Uthmeier’s opinion.
“The constitution was never in opposition to religious education or religion itself,” Burke said.
He noted that private school scholarships are already allowed to be used at private religious schools.
Burke argued Uthmeier’s opinion simply opens the door for similar scholarship opportunities at religious colleges and would allow religiously-affiliated charter schools to incorporate religious instruction in the classroom.
“They have the same liberty under the constitution of the United States to have religious freedom and free exercise,” Burke said. “And that should expand the choice system, whether it’s the public school or the private school.”
But separation of church and state advocates like Devon Graham with American Atheists argue the AG’s opinion opens a pandora’s box.
“I don’t want to see my tax dollars going to indoctrinate public school, indoctrinate students into a religion they may or may not even agree with,” Graham said.
She also questioned whether all religious affiliations will be treated equally, given the AG’s recent criticism of private school scholarships being used at Muslim schools.
“If you want to fund religion, you can’t pick and choose the religion. You have to cover them all,” Graham said. “This is a pandora’s box and if he wants to open it, good luck to him.”
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