State Trial Court Upholds School Voucher Program

A trial court in Arizona's Maricopa County yesterday rejected state constitutional challenges to the state's "empowerment scholarship" program that makes school vouchers available to students with special needs so they can attend private or parochial schools.  According to the Arizona Daily Star, the court rejected claims that the program violates the state constitutional prohibition on appropriating public money in aid of any private or sectarian school (AZ Const., Art. 9, Sec. 10), and the provision in Art. 2, Sec. 12 of the state constitution that bars the appropriation of public money for religious instruction. The court held that there are substantive differences in the operation of this program and the ones struck down by the Arizona Supreme Court in 2009. (See prior posting.)