Office Argues Appeal in State
Supreme Court on Hope Scholarship Act
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office argued in the state Supreme Court of Appeals Tuesday, urging justices to dissolve the permanent injunction against the Hope Scholarship Act and remand the case back to Kanawha County Circuit Court for dismissal.
“We have a very strong case and the argument is very clear: the decision of a Kanawha Circuit Court judge is flawed in many ways and only renders harm to the thousands of families set to receive funds from the Act,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “I strongly support the right of parents to choose the best education possible for their children and will fight to prove the Act provides constitutionally for that right.”
According to Attorney General Morrisey’s appeal, the circuit court incorrectly found that the Act interferes with the Legislature’s duty to provide a “thorough and efficient system of free schools” for West Virginia students. That court also “misread the Hope Scholarship Act to find that it takes money from the school fund, interferes with the State Board of Education’s role, and is a special law.”
On the contrary, the Act “did not purport to touch our State’s public schools.” And it “did not draw a cent from the School Fund or take anything from appropriations reserved for public education,” Attorney General Morrisey’s office wrote.
The Hope Scholarship Act, which the Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law in 2021, “sought to open more doors for our State’s most vulnerable population—our children.”
It provides money for students leaving the public schools system—the scholarship allows families to use the funding for a variety of expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities.
Unlike some similar laws in other states, the Hope Scholarship Act is not a voucher program. Students can use scholarship funds for many educational ends beyond paying “tuition and fees at a participating school.”
“The state is providing a thorough and efficient system of free schools for West Virginia’s children, and has discretion to supplement that system through the Hope Scholarship Act,” according to the state’s reply brief filed in the case.
“Our kids deserve the best educational options—we will fight for our kids and the hard working families of our state to retain this law and uphold its constitutionality,” Attorney General Morrisey said.
Bishop Mark E. Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, yes.every kid.Foundation, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, EdChoice, Foundation for Excellence in Education, Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Inc., Catholic Education Partners Foundation, Goldwater Institute and West Virginia Christian Education Association have filed amicus briefs in support of the state’s appeal.