Utah district court rules 'Utah Fits All' scholarship unconstitutional; sponsors vow appeal

A Utah district court ruled this week that the Utah Fits All scholarship program is unconstitutional, but sponsors said the judge declined to stay the program while they pursue an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, allowing current recipients to continue their school-year plans.

Representative Candace Perucci, an original sponsor, told the Utah House podcast that the program ‘‘was designed to give families flexibility and opportunity in education,’’ and that the court’s decision could affect thousands of students. Senator Kirk Kolimore, also a sponsor, described the ruling as ‘‘judicial activism’’ and said the opinion found the program unconstitutional on two grounds: that the legislature cannot create education programs outside of the public-education system and that income-tax revenue cannot be used to fund the program.

The ruling does not immediately disrupt the scholarship, the sponsors said. Perucci said the judge ‘‘agreed not to stay the law,’’ a decision the sponsors welcomed because it lets recipients finish the year while the state appeals. Kolimore said he expects the appeal to the Utah Supreme Court to take time—‘‘likely at least through the next school year’’—and that lawmakers are also examining potential legislative fixes.

Sponsors gave numbers to illustrate the program’s scale and the possible impact. Perucci said about 10,000 children were enrolled last year and that roughly 21,000 applications were pending for the next school year; Kolimore said current funding would cover ‘‘potentially about 18,000’’ students. On the podcast Kolimore described Utah’s total public-education budget as ‘‘over $8,000,000,000’’ with roughly $5,000,000,000 coming from state investment and said the Fits All appropriation was about $100,000,000—“just over 1%.”

Perucci and Kolimore defended the program as targeted to lower-income families. Kolimore said the eligibility rules were tied to federal poverty levels and that ‘‘of the 10,000 scholarships, I think it was almost 100% . . . went to the lowest income bracket.’’ Perucci said the scholarship amounts were set to be meaningful for families and noted program rules that set homeschool amounts at $4,000 for elementary and $6,000 for high school cases.

The sponsors also described the Fits All package as part of a legislative compromise that included teacher pay increases. Perucci said the bill provided a $6,000 compensation increase for teachers across the state and argued the union’s lawsuit threatens both the scholarship and teacher pay because the provisions were interconnected. Kolimore said only a small portion of the overall appropriation funded the scholarship and emphasized the legislature’s broader, multi-year increases in public-education funding.

Both sponsors pointed to family stories they say illustrate the program’s effects: children who caught up academically after switching learning models, families serving children with disabilities who said the scholarship ‘‘was huge,’’ and a senior who used a scholarship for his final K–12 year and regained motivation after transferring to Juan Diego High School.

Perucci and Kolimore urged parents to continue applying, to contact elected officials in support of the program and said they are pursuing judicial and legislative routes to preserve school-choice options. The sponsors said they remain committed to public education while supporting alternative learning pathways for families.

Next steps: sponsors said they will pursue an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court and explore legislative options; the program remains active for current recipients while the appeal proceeds.