Why last week’s Alaska Supreme Court ruling isn’t the final word on homeschool allotments

A motion extracurricular nan Boney Courthouse successful Anchorage connected June 27, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

The Alaska Supreme Court handed nan authorities a triumph past week erstwhile it reversed a little tribunal ruling that had thrown retired 2 cardinal homeschool laws arsenic unconstitutional.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy celebrated nan decision, saying nan precocious tribunal was correct to support nan laws successful place. 

But there’s a cardinal mobility nan tribunal didn’t address: whether Alaska correspondence schools tin let parents to walk nationalist money astatine backstage schools.

Alaska Public Media’s Eric Stone explains what nan court’s determination intends and what’s ahead.

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This question and reply has been lightly edited for magnitude and clarity.

Casey Grove: Homeschool advocates are celebrating this ruling. But why are nan group who challenged nan homeschool laws still optimistic?

Eric Stone: The short reply is, nan tribunal didn’t opportunity 1 measurement aliases nan different whether backstage schoolhouse spending was constitutional. It wholly sidestepped nan question. So nan determination upholding nan homeschool laws was, arsenic nan plaintiffs spot it, a procedural one. Here’s their lawyer, Scott Kendall.

“The bosom of that procedural interest is there’s not a schoolhouse territory astatine nan array for nan litigation,” Kendall said Friday.

Back erstwhile they first revenge this lawsuit, nan plaintiffs’ main objection was that group were spending authorities money connected backstage schools successful usurpation of article 7 of nan Alaska Constitution. That fundamentally says you can’t walk nationalist money connected belief aliases backstage schools. That was their main gripe pinch nan existent system.

Now, they didn’t limit their objections to backstage schoolhouse spending. They besides based on that nan full rule was unconstitutional. And astatine nan superior tribunal level, nan proceedings tribunal successful this case, agreed pinch them and threw retired nan full law. That’s really we coiled up pinch each this uncertainty astir nan early of homeschooling.

But what nan Alaska Supreme Court did was norm that throwing retired nan full rule was inappropriate. There is simply a very precocious barroom for throwing retired a full rule arsenic unconstitutional. And successful this case, nan Alaska Supreme Court recovered that nan plaintiffs hadn’t met it. The authorities was successfully capable to reason that location are plentifulness of morganatic uses for homeschool allotments, and that’s capable to make nan rule constitutional.

And what nan Alaska Supreme Court said was, basically, you tin situation really allotments are used, but you person to writer nan correct party.

CG: Why do they person to writer schoolhouse districts?

ES: So nan 2014 rule that changed homeschooling successful Alaska and created nan strategy we person now, what it did was devolve a bunch of powerfulness that was antecedently held by nan authorities and manus it to schoolhouse districts and parents. At nan time, then-Sen. Mike Dunleavy said nan attack was to attraction little astir really nan kids really study and much astir outcomes, for illustration really nan kids execute connected tests aliases their schoolwork. Here’s really Dunleavy put it successful 2013.

“The parent, nan schoolhouse territory and nan ILP coach find what nan inputs are to get to that output, arsenic opposed to nan Department of Education done its regulations determining nan inputs. The section schoolhouse determines nan inputs, nan section territory determines nan inputs,” Dunleavy said astatine a March 2013 hearing.

(Of course, a mates years later, different measure cosponsored by Dunleavy allowed parents to opt retired of authorities testing, which successful immoderate consciousness is really you measurement output. But that’s each a spot beside nan point. The constituent is, who’s responsible for what kids learn, and from whom, that’s nan work of section schoolhouse districts.)

And nan measurement that manifests is, parents activity together pinch their correspondence schoolhouse to create an individual learning plan, that’s nan ILP Dunleavy mentioned. Then, they bargain classes and program and truthful connected from district-approved vendors, which successful immoderate cases see backstage schools. But astatine nan extremity of nan day, it’s districts that are responsible for ensuring that spending abides by nan authorities Constitution. 

But nan suit was against nan state. So nan Supreme Court ruled that successful bid to reply that question, whether backstage schoolhouse allotment spending is OK, you’ve sewage to adhd a schoolhouse territory truthful you person personification to reason against. Courts don’t for illustration to norm without proceeding from some sides, truthful they sent it backmost down to nan little court.

CG: So wherever do things spell from here?

ES: Well, erstwhile I said to nan plaintiff’s lawyer, Scott Kendall, soon aft nan determination was released connected Friday, he said nan way up was clear.

“In a sense, what they opportunity successful this bid is, each we request is an illustration of this happening 1 time. Bring nan schoolhouse territory who did it successful beforehand of us, and we tin show you that this is unconstitutional,” Kendall said.

It’s a small excessively early to opportunity whether that’ll decidedly hap — Kendall’s clients could determine not to return it immoderate further. But if they do, that’s really it’ll apt play out. 

One large unanswered mobility present is what domiciled nan authorities will play arsenic this lawsuit continues, assuming it does. I asked Cori Mills, nan caput of nan Department of Law’s Civil Division, whether nan authorities would measurement successful to take sides backstage schoolhouse spending, now that it’s been dismissed from nan case. She told maine it’s a spot excessively early to say.

“I deliberation we’d person to measure nan circumstantial case, nan type of spending and find wherever we fell connected it and what we felt nan state’s liking was successful that case,” Mills said Friday.

But location are indications that nan authorities is consenting to return immoderate steps to let this benignant of spending.

CG: What do you mean?

ES: There was this point nan state’s lawyer, Elbert Lin, said astatine nan Supreme Court that intrigued me. And that’s fundamentally that it’s not wholly clear that backstage schoolhouse spending pinch allotment dollars is allowed nether nan existing laws. 

“It’s conscionable benignant of been assumed that it is accordant pinch nan statute. But arsenic we person reserved successful our briefs, that’s a mobility that needs to beryllium wished connected nan facts,” Lin said astatine Thursday’s oral arguments.

And he was fundamentally saying it to reason that nan lawsuit isn’t afloat baked, that location are unanswered questions that request to beryllium answered earlier you tin get to nan constitutionality of nan law.

But why mightiness it not beryllium legal? One of nan justices brought up nan definition of correspondence study successful Alaska regulation. And nan Alaska Administrative Code says a correspondence programme provides little than 3 hours per week of face-to-face instruction, astatine slightest successful precocious grades. And evidently if you’re full-time successful a backstage schoolhouse and utilizing your allotment to subsidize that, you’re getting a batch much than 3 hours a week face-to-face. 

But astatine a authorities schoolhouse committee gathering aft nan Supreme Court decision, Education Commissioner Deena Bishop told nan committee she anticipated revising that meaning successful nan not-too-distant future.

“We’re conscionable trying to update that successful nan meaning of specifically what correspondence is … which is conscionable a much elastic program, alternatively than tied to a definite magnitude of clip during a time pinch a certified coach aliases not,” Bishop said astatine Monday’s meeting. “We’re looking astatine updating that to beryllium genuinely bespeak really it’s being utilized successful Alaska.”

So moreover if nan authorities doesn’t jump successful to take sides allotment spending connected backstage schools, it’s still taking steps to make judge that’s ineligible nether nan court’s ruling, which seems significant.