Is Utah's School Voucher Scheme Unconstitutional?
Public school advocates ask State Supreme Court to reject vouchers
Public school advocacy group Public Funds for Public Schools is asking the Utah Supreme Court to uphold a lower court’s ruling that the state’s school voucher scheme is unconstitutional.
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The Utah Fits All voucher law enacted in 2023 established an Education Savings Account voucher program that allows families to use public funds to pay for a wide range of private education expenses. In April 2025, a state trial court ruled that the program violates several provisions of the state constitution. That decision is now on appeal before the Utah Supreme Court.
PFPS’s amicus brief explains that the voucher program violates the state constitution because it is neither open to all children nor free. Moreover, the voucher program’s diversion of scarce resources to private entities threatens the state’s ability to provide an adequate public education to all children.
“Utah’s constitution safeguards public funds for public schools that are free and open to all,” said Patrick Cremin, Staff Attorney at Education Law Center, which leads PFPS. “The state’s universal voucher program, which diverts funds to private schools that can pick and choose the students they educate, violates these core constitutional guarantees and undermines the state’s commitment to ensuring equal educational access and opportunity.”
