[JURIST] The Arizona Court of Appeals struck down [opinion, PDF] a 2006 state program providing government funds for private and religious schools, ruling Thursday that it violated a ban in the state constitution [text] on granting state benefits to private schools. The court rejected arguments that the vouchers benefited low-income families rather than schools, holding that schools benefited indirectly when they received tuition from parents. School voucher proponents said that they would appeal the ruling. Capitol Media Services has more.

Opponents of school vouchers [NEA advocacy site] argue that these programs do not achieve their stated goal of expanding childrens' educational opportunities, and several states limit their use through constitutional provisions. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court held [JURIST report] that the state's 1999 school voucher law [text] violated the state constitutional requirement of a uniform system of free public schools.