Florida has had a private school voucher program for decades. Early on, the plan was limited to low-income residents and students with certain types of learning challenges, but two years ago, state lawmakers made it universal. Now, basically any student in the Sunshine State can get a voucher to attend a private school. Most of the private schools taking part in the program are, not surprisingly, Christian.
But not all: Muslims, totaling about 127,000 people in the state, have established a few private Islamic academies.
Outraged that some Muslims are participating in the voucher program, the Florida Cabinet — comprised of the state’s governor, chief financial officer, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture — have, without evidence, charged the Muslim academies of teaching Sharia law. Yet state officials have no problem with state-funded Christian schools teaching biblical law, which shares many similarities with Sharia law.
A basic rule of American church-state law is that government must treat all religions equally. If a benefit is extended to one faith group, it must be made available to all. A law that establishes a special program but limits it to Christian churches will not pass constitutional muster.
Florida Cabinet member and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, formerly president of the state Senate, said he supports vouchers but insisted that schools “that indoctrinate Sharia law should not be a part of our taxpayer-funded school voucher program.”
Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, past president of Americans United’s Board of Trustees and a Florida resident, properly labeled this as “bigoted.” In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Shapiro added, “Sadly, bigotry against Islam is epidemic.”
But Shapiro went on to make an important point: This would not be an issue if that state hadn’t created the voucher plan. “It would be far better for all of us if the government would stay out of the religious school business and leave our taxpayer dollars for what they are intended, not to support religious education,” Shapiro said.