The judge who struck down Utah’s $100 million school voucher program as unconstitutional has agreed to let the higher courts decide the fate of “Utah Fits All” — effectively allowing the program to keep running while the state appeals the ruling.
Utah 3rd District Court Judge Laura Scott opted Wednesday not to issue an injunction on her April 18 ruling, after hearing arguments from both parties in a lawsuit filed against the state last year by the Utah Education Association (UEA), the state’s largest teachers’ union.
“The proposal is to simply not enter the injunction at all, to have it go up, and then when the Supreme Court, or the Court of Appeals… renders a decision, we’ll know how to proceed,” Scott said.
UEA, in a statement Wednesday, said the union was “confident” that it will win its case in higher courts. Scott’s decision not to issue an injunction “prevents immediate disruption for private and homeschool students and ensures public school educators continue receiving the pay increase tied to the program.”
Last week, Scott sided with the UEA’s claims that the Utah Fits All program is an unconstitutional use of state income tax dollars – which are reserved only for public education, higher education and services for people with disabilities.
In her ruling, which higher courts now will consider, Scott wrote that the program isn’t “open” to all school-aged children, as required by the Utah Constitution.
Gov. Spencer Cox, a named defendant in the case, said last week the state is preparing to appeal.
Without Scott’s injunction, officials can proceed with distributing $100 million in voucher scholarships for the 2025-26 school year while the case moves through the higher courts. The money must be doled out before the end of May.
Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, who sponsored the bill that created Utah Fits All as well as a recent bill that made significant changes to the program called Wednesday’s decision “good news” in statement posted to X.
“Families can finish the school year with peace of mind and new applicants can still apply for next academic year,” Pierucci wrote. “Utah remains firmly committed to both a strong public education system and expanding opportunity through choice.”
Scott’s ruling addressed only the first two claims in UEA’s lawsuit, saying the decision made the third and fourth claims “moot.” Those remaining claims dealt with the authority of the Utah State Board of Education and private entities over public education funding.
Under the agreement of both parties, Scott said she would rule on the third and fourth claims so that the higher courts could have all four. Scott said she would issue those rulings in a few weeks.
Why the judge determined Utah Fits All is unconstitutional
Scott’s ruling relied on two sections of the Utah Constitution: Article X, which requires public education to be free from “sectarian control,” and Article XIII, which earmarks income tax revenue for public education, higher education and services for people with disabilities.
Attorneys for Cox and then-Attorney General Sean Reyes argued in their July 2024 motion to dismiss the case that the voucher program did not prevent the state from fulfilling its obligation to provide Utah students with a “free and appropriate public education.”
“Nothing in the statute that creates the UFA Scholarship Program states or implies that funding for the Program will be taken from funds that would otherwise be appropriated to fund the public education system,” the motion stated.
However, the judge ruled that because the Legislature is funding the program with income tax dollars, the funds remain beholden to Article X’s requirements.
The ruling also stated that while public schools are required to accept all students, private schools and other providers participating in the voucher program can impose admissions criteria — making the program incompatible with constitutional mandates.
The judge also rejected the state’s argument that the program is outside the public education system and thus not subject to Article X. While the Legislature has some authority over education programs, Scott wrote in her ruling, its authority does not extend to creating a publicly funded education system that sidesteps constitutional protections.
Simply labeling it a separate program, the judge ruled, doesn’t make it exempt from the laws that apply to all public education.
Vouchers set for an overhaul this year
The Republican-dominated Legislature passed HB215 in 2023, creating the “Utah Fits All Scholarship” voucher program, despite opposition from teachers and nearly every education organization in Utah.
Initially, the state allocated $42 million for the program starting in the 2024-25 school year — enough funding for about 5,000 students to each receive the allotted $8,000 share/scholarship. In February 2024, lawmakers injected another $40 million into the pot, raising the number of available scholarships to 10,000.
Lawmakers injected another 25% funding boost this legislative session, raising total state spending to more than $100 million.
The increase comes amid sweeping changes to the program, which has yet to complete its first full year of implementation.
Last year, all 10,000 recipients received an $8,000 scholarship, regardless of whether they were homeschooled or attended private school. The main rule: In order to receive the voucher money, students cannot be enrolled in public school full time.
The scholarship could then be spent on a range of “educational expenses,” including private school tuition, tutoring, homeschooling expenses and even entirely on extracurricular activities, such as violin or swim lessons.
That will change next academic year: There will be new limits on spending for certain extracurriculars — as well as varying scholarship amounts, depending on a student’s age and whether they are homeschooled.
Homeschoolers age 5-11 will receive a $4,000 scholarship, for example, and homeschoolers age 12-18 will qualify for $6,000. Students attending private schools still will receive the full $8,000, regardless of age.
This means the more than $100 million in taxpayer-backed scholarships — if the higher courts allow them — could be spread across more recipients. Last year, 80% of voucher recipients were homeschooled, lawmakers have said.
Applications for the Utah Fits All scholarship opened to renewing applicants on Jan. 21 and to new applicants on March 3. Families can continue to apply through the Utah Fits All website until the portal closes May 1, a week from Thursday.