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.
Read the full report at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.