School reformers have suffered through some disappointing court rulings over the years, but yesterday’s decision by the Florida Supreme Court is in a class by itself. The court struck down that state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which had since 1999 thrown a lifeline to schoolchildren trapped in failing public schools by offering their parents vouchers they could use at a better institution, public or private. Five of the state’s seven justices contorted themselves into thinking that the law was an unconstitutional assault on public schools. The ruling is bad enough news for Floridians, but a particularly insidious aspect of the ruling also cuts off what could have been an opportunity for New Yorkers.

The justices based their ruling on the education article in Florida’s state constitution, which reads in part, “Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education.” The majority decided that since the OSP “diverted” money from public schools to private schools – private schools not subject to the same regulations as public schools – the state was not living up to its obligation to provide “uniform” “free public schools.”

The court made two mistakes. First, under the law failing public schools received extra funding to improve even while their students were receiving vouchers to go elsewhere. Second, the program improved those failing public schools. One study performed by a senior fellow and a research associate at the Manhattan Institute, Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, found that schools so bad their students qualified for vouchers improved their performance on state standardized tests faster than any other schools from the 2002 and the 2003 school years.

The problem doesn’t stop with the court’s faulty judgment, however. At least two arguments had swirled around Florida’s program. One dealt with the constitutional provisions the court addressed. The other, more important one, dealt with whether the scholarships were acceptable under a clause in Florida’s constitution separating church and state, a source of controversy because OSP students could use the vouchers at religious schools.

That clause, called a “Blaine Amendment,” is a manifestation of anti-Catholic fervor that swept the country in the 19th century, leading 37 states – including New York – to pass strict constitutional measures cutting off all state money to religious institutions which previously had enjoyed varying levels of state support. A legal debate has been growing over whether the strictness of Blaine amendments violates the federal First Amendment. Yet, perhaps in an attempt to forestall a federal appeal on the religious exercise question, the joeys on the Florida bench focused exclusively on a legal issue that the federal courts would not hear on appeal.

This maneuver all but guarantees that this will be the last word on opportunity scholarships. The ruling is a tragedy for Florida’s pupils, some of whom will have to return to failing schools at the end of this year. It also represents an opportunity lost for students and reformers in the other 36 states – including ours – still governed by antiquated amendments named for a bigot called Blaine.