Teacher's Union Loses Legal Battle In Voucher Fight

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Florida's teacher union has lost another round in its fight against the state's largest private school voucher program.

On Tuesday, the 1st District Court of Appeal on Tuesday sided with a lower judge's decision to throw out the lawsuit filed by the Florida Education Association and others.

The legal battle has been closely watched as supporters have mounted a public relations campaign to get the union and others to drop the lawsuit. The program currently serves low-income families but the program is expanding to middle-income families this fall.

This past school year the nearly $419 million program handed out vouchers for nearly 79,000 children.

Union officials have maintained the program is unconstitutional, but the appeals court ruled that those who sued have not shown how it harms public schools.

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