In January 2019, the Florida Supreme Court narrowly decided on the long-standing case of Citizens for Strong Schools and the Florida State Board of Education in which the Petitioners (Citizens for Strong Schools et al.) argued that the State of Florida was not living up to its constitutional duty to provide “high-quality” education for all students.
The decision against the Petitioners was based upon the facts that (1) any remedy to the Petitioners’ complaint would bring about the Court’s intrusion on the powers of the Legislature and (2) the language that the Petitioners’ complaint rests upon—“efficient”, “safe”, “secure”, and “high-quality” from a 1998 constitutional amendment which sought to strengthen education—remains vague and poorly defined in the Petitioners’ request providing no clear plan of action for remediation had it been within the judicial purview.
In this case, Joseph S. Van de Bogart, Esq. filed an amicus curae brief on behalf of United Cerebral Palsy. United Cerebral Palsy provides educational opportunities for students with disabilities in both public and private schools, and it would have been affected by the granting of relief in this case as the Petitioners attempted to portray the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities as unconstitutional—a program United Cerebral Palsy and many other associations rely on to provide adequate educational programs to exceptional students.
Van de Bogart Law has experience successfully representing parties interested in the outcome of a pending appeal through the filing of amicus curae briefs with the Florida Supreme Court.
Van de Bogart Law will gladly provide pro bono services to non-profits. If you are in need of advisement or representation for such a matter, please contact us for a consultation.
