CHARLESTON — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed an appeal from an injunction against the Hope Scholarship Act on Tuesday, asking the court to overturn a Kanawha circuit judge's preliminary and permanent injunction.
Morrisey said he hoped the court would act quickly because families are currently in limbo.
"We are continuing to fight for the Hope Scholarship Act, an important law that gives parents the right to choose the education they see fit for their children," Morrisey said. "We know this law is constitutional. So, we urge the court to act because thousands of families who were supposed to receive educational funding for their children remain in limbo—with the school year just around the corner."
Morrisey wrote in the appeal filed in the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals that "the injunction will irreparably injure the public, including more than 3,000 students already approved for scholarships."
Morrisey argued that with just over one month until school starts in West Virginia, "the blessing of the Hope Scholarship these students’ families planned around has been ‘pulled out from under' them."
Last week, Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit wrote in her July 22 order that because private schools cost more than the Hope Scholarship amounts and there are many other expenses outside of tuition that families must cover, vouchers can only be used by families with the resources to pay the additional private school tuition and costs.
"As a result, the public schools will have fewer funds to educate a higher proportion of students with the most significant needs—including students from low-income families and students with disabilities—who are among the most expensive to educate," Tabit wrote.
Tabit wrote that the Constitution requires the state to raise revenue for, fund and maintain only a thorough and efficient system of free schools supervised by the West Virginia Board of Education and the Hope Scholarship bill exceeds that and authorizes a separate system of education that is funded by taxpayer money but governed by a separate board.
Tabit wrote that public funds could only be used to fund public schools. She enjoined the state from implementing the program and denied the state's request to stay the injunction.
The Hope Scholarship Act was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Justice in 2021.
The Hope Scholarship program would provide money to students who left the public school system and give them $4,200 each to go toward private school tuition or to be used for other school purposes.
Earlier this month, the state education department argued the money incentivized people to leave public schools, which would reduce school funding, teachers and staff.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-P-24
