A Florida appeals court is wading back into a contentious legal battle over the state’s largest private school voucher program.
A panel of judges with the 1st District Court of Appeal will hold a hearing Tuesday that may help decide the fate of the program that serves more than 78,000 students.
The hearing comes nearly a year after Circuit Judge George Reynolds ruled that the groups filing the lawsuit did not have a legal right to challenge the program. The main group challenging the program is the Florida Education Association, which is the union that represents the state’s teachers.
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 will expand to middle-income families this fall.