The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the nation's first statewide school voucher program, ruling that it violated the state's constitution by robbing public schools of resources.

Though Florida's Constitution explicitly provides for "a uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public education," the voucher program enacted under Gov. Jeb Bush "diverts public dollars into separate private systems," Chief Justice Barbara Pariente wrote in the 5-2 ruling.

The decision was seized upon by opponents of vouchers as a precedent of national import on the controversial issue but discounted by proponents, who said its impact would be limited.

The Florida vouchers have been offered since 1999. About 700 schoolchildren across Florida receive the vouchers, which allow them to attend private or religious schools if their public school is classified as "failing" by the state. Two other voucher programs involving far more Florida children were untouched by Thursday's ruling.

Among those who welcomed the ruling was Marc Egan, director of federal affairs at the National School Boards Association, a Washington-based organization that represents public school boards. "Florida has been the spotlight voucher program for years," he said, and it currently has the only statewide program.

"We think that vouchers undermine public education and drain dollars from the public schools," Egan said. "They also create double standards of accountability. Public schools are accountable to the public. Private schools are not."

The governor of Florida called the ruling "a sad day for accountability in our state." Bush promoted the use of vouchers as a key tool in his campaign to force Florida's public schools to perform better or risk losing pupils and funds.

He told reporters in Tallahassee that he would look for ways to continue the voucher program, including private funding and amending the state constitution.

To avoid disrupting the education of students receiving vouchers, the court said its decision would take effect at the end of this school year.

Some proponents of vouchers said the effect of the ruling would be limited because of the peculiarity of Florida's Constitution. Only a few other states have a similar constitutional requirement for a uniform system of public schools, said Clark Neily, senior attorney with the Institute for Justice in Washington. And one of those states, Wisconsin, recently rejected the conclusion reached by the Florida justices, Neily said.

The law creating the scholarship vouchers had been already ruled unconstitutional by a Florida appeals court on grounds that it violated the separation of church and state by giving tax money to religiously affiliated schools. The Florida Supreme Court sidestepped that issue.