Red light for Florida's voucher program. (Notebook: education information from schools, business, research and professional organizations).

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in June to approve Ohio's voucher system is not the end of the national voucher debate, but the beginning of it.

A Florida state judge ruled in August that the state's voucher program illegally sends public money to church schools.

The state constitution is "clear and unambiguous" that public money cannot be used for religious institutions, stated Florida Circuit Court Judge P. Kevin Davey in August. Gov. Jeb Bush appealed the decision, allowing the program to continue for now.

Many voucher advocates thought the U.S. Supreme Court decision to back Ohio's voucher program would remove the last hurdle to legalizing vouchers nationally.

In a Gallup Organization poll published in August, most Americans, or 52 percent of 1,000 adults, opposed the use of state vouchers to expand access to private education, according to an online story at washingtonpost.com.

And 47 states have language in their state constitutions that restrict sending public money to religious institutions.

"This decision shows that the battle over vouchers is far from over," says Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the coalitions that challenged Florida's voucher law.

The Florida program allows students at failing public schools to get vouchers for private schools. Failing schools are defined by the state as schools that get a failing grade from the state twice in a four-year period. Last year, 10 schools made this list and about 50 students took advantage of the vouchers, according to a story in The Washington Post.