Florida Republicans decry tax money going to Islamic schools

Top Florida Republicans are decrying the flow of voucher money to Islamic campuses that “promote Shariah law,” a stance one prominent Muslim group says is unconstitutional because schools of other faiths benefit from the program without interference.

Republican leaders for years have defended the use of taxpayer-funded vouchers at private, mostly Christian campuses, including those that ban gay students and enforce strict gender-specific dress codes. But this week, they objected to Islamic schools tapping into the program, which funnels more than $3 billion annually to more than 2,000 private campuses across the state, a small proportion of which are Muslim.

“Shariah law seeks to destroy and supplant the pillars of our republican form of government and is incompatible with the Western tradition,” Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote this week on X, reposting a video apparently shot at a Tampa-area Islamic school that was previously published by an anti-Muslim organization. “The use of taxpayer-funded school vouchers to promote Shariah law likely contravenes Florida law and undermines our national security.”

Shariah, which means “the correct path” in Arabic, is the counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow close to God, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Most of the world’s Muslim-majority countries have laws that reference Shariah. Some of these nations have laws that call for what critics say are cruel criminal punishments, or place restrictions on women and minority groups, while others reject such practices.

Uthmeier’s office did not respond to an email from the Orlando Sentinel this week asking if he could provide examples of Shariah law in schools that take vouchers or explain how that type of instruction might conflict with state law, which allows for religious instruction in campuses that take public money. The video he shared, posted by the founder of the RAIR Foundation, features the principal of the Tampa-area school speaking in Arabic, with English subtitles indicating he is discussing the voucher program, his school’s religious teachings, and the challenges facing Islamic educators.

Many of the schools that participate in Florida’s voucher program enforce rules that reflect the organization’s religious beliefs. In 2020, for example, the Sentinel reported that 156 private Christian schools with anti-gay views educated more than 20,800 students with tuition paid for by state scholarships. And in 2023, the paper found that two of Central Florida’s Islamic schools require girls to wear hijabs, a head covering worn by some Muslim women, as part of their school uniforms.

Christian schools and families have been by far the biggest beneficiaries of vouchers, and, until now, most Florida Republicans have expressed no concern about sending taxpayer dollars to religious and largely unregulated campuses.

State Republicans’ inconsistent attitudes toward Christian and Islamic schools conflict with the First Amendment, which forbids the government from establishing an official religion or favoring one faith over another, said Hiba Rahim, deputy executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida.

“The direct targeting of Islamic schools is both discriminatory and unconstitutional,” she said.

But Uthmeier wasn’t the only Florida leader calling on the state to stop the flow of tax dollars to Islamic schools this week.

“As Senate President, universal school choice was one of my top legislative priorities,” Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson wrote on X on Monday, reposting Uthmeier’s message. “Schools that indoctrinate Shariah law should not be a part of our taxpayer-funded school voucher program.”

Simpson, who championed vouchers during his decade-long tenure in the Senate, said in 2021 that he and other legislative leaders wanted “school choice to be an option for every family,” according to a press release that touted a proposal to expand voucher eligibility.

More than 300,000 Florida students used vouchers, sometimes called scholarships, to attend 2,278 campuses last year, according to Step up for Students, which administers the program. Roughly two dozen of the schools that participate in the program are Islamic, according to the state education department. The majority are Christian.

Shariah law has become a popular topic among Florida Republicans recently. State Rep. Hillary Cassel of Broward County has introduced legislation to prohibit the introduction of Shariah law in the state.

Some people might not agree with certain policies enacted in Islamic schools, such as dress codes they believe are too restrictive, but if they view themselves as patriotic Americans, they should appreciate that others also have the right to practice their beliefs freely, Rahim said. And Christians might find they have more in common with Muslims than they think, she added.

“Muslim parents send their children to Islamic schools for exactly the same reasons that Christian parents send their children to Christian schools and it is for the preservation of values that are important to them,” Rahim said.

Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, a past president of the board of Americans United For Separation of Church and State, described Uthmeier’s views on Islamic schools as “bigoted.” He pointed out that Florida leaders are quick to criticize what they view as examples of Shariah law, but are silent on the practice of canon law or Jewish jurisprudence.

“Sadly, bigotry against Islam is epidemic,” said Shapiro, who lives in Flagler County.

Nonetheless, Shapiro said he thinks tax dollars should be reserved for public schools, especially as those campuses face declining enrollment and budget cuts and administrators say vouchers are partly to blame.

“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.

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