(The Center Square) – The Alaska Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case over state funding of materials for correspondence schools on June 25.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf V. Zeman ruled last month that the funding is unconstitutional but said last week his ruling would not go into effect until June 30.
The Alaska attorney general’s office appealed Zeman’s decision and asked for an expedited hearing which was granted.
The ruling has left some confused about whether or not it’s legal to purchase homeschooling materials with state funds.
“There has also been confusion about what the decision says and means and what is the best way forward to ensure that public correspondence school education remains an opportunity for Alaska families—an opportunity that has existed and been supported by public funding since territorial days,” Attorney General Treg Taylor said in a statement.
Taylor said it wasn’t a good idea to put any new laws into place as the state Supreme Court could uphold the current law.
“Any potential solution should be tailored to the interim only and cause the least disruption to existing programs, while recognizing the judge’s decision,” Taylor said.
The House and the Senate have introduced bills addressing school correspondence funding.
House Joint Resolution 28 would remove language cited in the court ruling as unconstitutional, according to Rep. Sara Vance, R-Homer, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, vice chair of the committee.
The measure says, “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”
Two-thirds of the Legislature must approve the measure before it can go to the voters, who can approve it by a simple majority.
The committee held two hearings on the bill but it remains in committee.
House Bill 400 would clarify what materials can be paid for with state funds and remove the current language from the statute. The bill is in the Senate Finance Committee.
