Utah asks for UEA voucher lawsuit to be dismissed

SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys for Governor Spencer Cox and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes have asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by the state’s largest teachers union.

The Utah Education Association sued the state, alleging that its “Utah Fits All Scholarship” is a voucher program that is taking money from the public education system.

In a new court filing, lawyers for the state insisted the program only applies to a handful of students and is not taking an excessive amount of funding.

“The Legislature has allocated funds for the UFA Scholarship Program amounting to less than 1% of the overall budget provided for the public education system. 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,” assistant Utah Attorney General Scott Ryther wrote.

The state also argues the legislature is within its authority to do it.

“Accordingly, if the Legislature chooses, as it did here, to create a program to support children in their efforts to seek an educational alternative outside the public education system, the Legislature may do so. The UFA Scholarship Program stands as a separately funded program to support the needs of children who wish to opt out of the public education system,” Ryther wrote.

So far, Utah lawmakers have spent $82.5 million in taxpayer funds on the program. The scholarship offers families up to $8,000 to move their student to private or pay for other school expenses. But the Utah Education Association alleges the Utah Fits All program diverts away money from public schools, in violation of the state’s constitution. The union is asking a judge to block the law from being enforced.

The state of Utah’s court filing also seeks to have Utah State Board of Education member Carol Lear removed as a plaintiff, saying she lacks standing to sue.