Dunleavy: State appeal of judge’s decision over homeschool reimbursement constitutionality could mean U.S. Supreme Court decision, educational dividend

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Citing what he called the “unprecedented” nature of an Anchorage Superior Court judge’s ruling last week that said it’s unconstitutional to use public money to reimburse parents and guardians of children in private or religious schools, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, R-Alaska, said Wednesday that a planned state appeal could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We don’t know where this is going to go, but if this is as broad as some think […] it may not be able to be remedied in statute,” Dunleavy said during a Wednesday news conference, adding that the judge’s ruling put the word “private” into question and saying the ruling could affect everything from spending for contractors to funding for non-public entities that supply services for school districts.

He also said that Alaska’s homeschoolers and correspondence programs are administered by the public school system. Vouchers, he said, are for when the state sends public money directly to a private school for tuition, to basically save a spot for a kid to go to private school.

The governor also noted that the reimbursements fund the individual education plans (IEP) the certified teachers in the school districts come up with to meet a student’s educational needs. He said many of the vendors schools and families work with to fulfill those IEPs are private.

“Dance studios, art studios, music, you name it, they’re all private,” Dunleavy said, expressing extensive concern over the judge’s ruling and saying it could “disenfranchise 24,000 kids, 1,000-plus vendors, countless families, 265 — I think — teachers that directly deal with homeschool.”

The governor was joined by Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, who said the state planned to ask for a stay of the decision longer than the June 30 date NEA-Alaska has requested. Taylor also predicted a likely appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Taylor said the NEA clearly “recognized the magnitude and devastating consequences of this decision to Alaska students and families.”

NEA-Alaska president Tom Klaameyer said the reason NEA and the plaintiffs have asked for a stay until June is because they realize there is concern amongst parents and don’t want to cause a disruption this school year.

“We also want to buy some time, so to speak, for the Legislature to provide some stability,” Klaaymeyer said, “and then if they can fix it legislatively, then we have that stability for parents.”

The NEA-Alaska president said he believes the governor knows the system the state has in place is unconstitutional, as parents were using their allotments to pay for tuition at private schools.

“We have case precedents that even though it’s not a direct payment to those institutions, that the judge has said, de facto, it is to the direct benefit of those institutions — even though the money is directed through the parent,” Klaaymeyer said. “The things that are clear are that it’s public money for education going to a private institution, and that’s what’s unconstitutional.”

“We support Alaska’s families making those educational choices — whatever’s best for their kids,” Klaaymeyer said. “But when we’re talking about public funds being siphoned away from public schools to private and religious institutions, we’re compelled to stand up for the Constitution and for the law and to fix the law.”

The governor acknowledged there are a lot of unknowns surrounding this lawsuit and said many hypotheticals exist when it comes to a legislative response and all the potential effects that must now be considered.

“You don’t have a simple, just, pure-public-only [school system] because you’re buying services and equipment and goods from private vendors to underwrite the public education, and that’s what this homeschool process was and is,” Dunleavy said.

Those options include a special session, constitutional amendment, and an education dividend similar to the PFD, he said, along with new scholarships.

“We don’t ask people how they spend their PFD. For all we know we have, we may have families that spend their 1000s of dollars in their collective PFDs onn their churches. We don’t ask why they what they do or how they spend their money, Dunleavy said.

Correspondence/Charter School Bill in Committee

Even with legal questions continuing to surround homeschool reimbursements for religious and private school expenses, a bill in the House Education Committee proposes to increase those reimbursements.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski.

For correspondence programs, it would change the funding formula from 90% of the BSA to 121.5%, coming out to more than $8,000.

Of the money, 50% or more goes to families for reimbursements and 50% goes to operational costs, including teacher and staff pay.

The bill also allocates an 11 times multiplier for intensive needs students and strengthens the language for allotments, stating each district that offers a correspondence program shall keep records of the receipt, transfer and expenditures of money allocated to the district. It must also provide an annual report to the Department of Education and make the report available on the Internet accessible to the public at no cost.

House Education Co-Chair Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, referred to the language in the bill as a “premonition” relating to current legal issues.

Carpenter’s staff member Donna Arduin said the language could help with the lawsuit if passed.

“A strong suggestion that was made to me and I’m sure to others was to make sure that these records were kept, and the records of how the allocations are being spent,” Arduin said. “Some of the districts, I believe, are doing this very well. But I think if the Legislature has the opportunity to make sure that records of how the reimbursements have been made by the districts to the correspondence program’s parents in keeping with their IEP and keeping with the Constitution — it may help with the lawsuit.”

In conclusion, the bill would also allow the State Board of Education to authorize charter public schools anywhere in the state.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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