Divided West Virginia Supreme Court Rules Hope Scholarship Constitutional
CHARLESTON – After hearing oral arguments Tuesday, a majority of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued an order Thursday dissolving the injunction blocking the Hope Scholarship educational savings account program from being implemented.
In a 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court sided with the state and Hope Scholarship families after they filed an appeal of the Kanawha County Circuit Court ruling in July that placed a preliminary and permanent injunction on the program.
“Acting without undue delay given the nature of the constitutional matters at issue and the need to resolve the appeal in an expedited manner … After careful consideration of all filings, the record on appeal, and the oral arguments presented by the parties, the Court is of the opinion to, and does, dissolve the injunctive relief and reverse the order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County entered on July 22, 2022,” according to the order.
Justices Beth Walker, Tim Armstead and C. Haley Bunn supported issuing the order, while Chief Justice John Hutchison and Justice William Wooten would not agree to enter a decision by order. According to the order, a detailed majority opinion will be released at a later date.
The Supreme Court heard arguments for the appeal Tuesday from the Attorney General’s Office representing Gov. Jim Justice, legislative leaders and State Treasurer Riley Moore.
“Today’s order is a tremendous victory for the hard-working families across West Virginia who deserve increased options for their children’s individual educational needs,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.
The Hope Scholarship gives parents the option to use a portion of their per-pupil expenditure from the state School Aid Formula for educational expenses, such as private-school tuition, home tutoring, learning aids and other acceptable expenses. The program is only open at the moment for students enrolled full-time in a public school for either the entire previous year or for 45 calendar days.
Before the program was halted, more than 3,146 Hope Scholarship applications had been awarded since the May 15 deadline at a cost of about $14.5 million, or nearly $4,300 per student.
The Hope Scholarship program would immediately resume, Moore said in a statement on Twitter.
“I want to thank the West Virginia Supreme Court for ruling that the Hope Scholarship is constitutional. This is a win for West Virginia families,” Moore said. “Effective immediately, this program is back up and running to provide better educational outcomes for our state’s students.”
Putnam County parent Travis Beaver, Upshur County parent Karen Kalar and Raleigh County teacher Wendy Peters filed a lawsuit in January to block the Hope Scholarship. The West Virginia Board of Education and state Department of Education were originally defendants in the lawsuit but switched sides over the summer in opposition to the Hope Scholarship.
Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit granted a temporary and permanent injunction in July preventing further implementation of the Hope Scholarship program, calling the law “null and void.” The new Intermediate Court of Appeals denied a motion in August to stay Tabit’s ruling.
Morrisey filed motions to appeal Tabit’s injunction of the Hope Scholarship with the ICA along with the motion to stay Tabit’s decision pending appeal. After the stay was denied, the Attorney General’s Office appealed to the Supreme Court to grant a stay and throw out the Hope Scholarship injunction. But according to the order, the Supreme Court decided to hear and expedite the appeal separate from Morrisey’s motions.
“It has always been my goal to help make our state first in the nation when it comes to educational opportunities for West Virginia’s kids,” Morrisey said. “Today’s win will make an incredible difference for thousands of families across the state. The Hope Scholarship Act opens more doors for West Virginia students while leaving public schools with the funding and other resources they need to remain strong. I’m proud of our office’s work to defend this important program and the rule of law.”
Opponents of the Hope Scholarship argued the program violated the state constitutional requirement for the Legislature to provide a system of free schools by encouraging parents to use taxpayer dollars that would have otherwise gone to public schools and instead use those dollars for private education. The program opens up to all eligible public, private and homeschool students in 2026 and could cost as much as $102.9 million.