Florida's First District Court of Appeals this week ruled state lawmakers can use public money to finance vouchers for students wanting to leave substandard public schools in favor of private schooling.

The decision overturns a March ruling that stated the program was unconstitutional. The appeals court justices said they could not find any legal language that specifically prohibited such efforts, the New York Times reports.

The Florida school voucher fight has received national attention ever since Gov. Jeb Bush approved public funds for students who want to leave the state’s worst-performing schools, but can't afford the tuition.

A number of groups -- including the Florida Parent Teacher Association and the Florida Education Association -- filed suit within 24 hours of the bill being signed into law. The original trial judge sided with the parents and teachers.

Bob Chanin, general counsel of the National Education Association agreed with the state teachers groups, saying the voucher program is a "terrible education program" that should be stopped.

Voucher programs of this type are intended to force public schools into improving their academic performance, but are considered by many in the education field to be a short-term fix to a problem requiring long-term solutions, the newspaper reports.

Florida’s voucher program began in 1999 and now has 51 participating students.

The legality of school voucher programs, first proposed in 1955 by economist Milton Friedman, have been a source of debate in half of the state legislatures this past year, the Times reports.

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