The ongoing litigation aimed at challenging the legality of Alaska’s increasingly popular homeschool allotment program will proceed, after a Superior Court judge tossed a motion to dismiss the case.
Those challenging the homeschool allotment program claim homeschoolers should not be able to use state funds to access educational goods and services provided at private and religious entities.
Last summer, the Alaska Supreme Court rejected a challenge to this practice that was spearheaded by the powerful NEA-Alaska teachers union. While the high court’s June 2024 decision in favor of the state preserved the status quo and gave homeschool families and schools a level of stability during the past school year, all parties knew the battle was far from over.
The newly filed case names four school districts, claiming they approved unconstitutional uses of the homeschool funds. The named districts are Anchorage, Mat-Su, Denali Borough and Galena City.
In refusing to toss the case, Superior Court Judge Laura Hartz ruled on Sept. 29 that the court needs to examine how the state correspondence allotments are spent, and whether they are legal.
Homeschool families, who asked the court to throw out the case, claim the state program is perfectly within legal bounds even though the Alaska Constitution forbids the use of public funds to “directly benefit” religious or private schools.
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Homeschool advocates argue that the allotments only “indirectly” benefited private and religious schools, since the money is given to parents, who can spent the funds in myriad ways. The fact that some money is spent on private schools only provides an indirect benefit to these institutions, similar to how someone might use their state-issued Permanent Fund Dividend to pay for services at a private or religious school.
In denying the motion to dismiss the case, Judge Hartz’s ruling propels the lawsuit into the discovery phase, which most likely will lead to a trial. Regardless of how the lower court rules, the case is expected to eventually land back in the Supreme Court.
14 Comments
Why is the Mat-Su part of this lawsuit? Have the Libs tread enough and taken over the school board?
The reason why Matsu is in the lawsuit is because any student from anywhere in the state can enroll in Matsu school district as a homeschooler. From there, they can get reimbursed for the non-religious classes that they attend, even if the provider is religious. So, for example, if you enroll your kid in an online math class with Veritas Institute, and he learns Algebra 2, this lawsuit alleges that the Alaska Constitution forbids it because Veritas Institute is a Christian educational organization. Likewise, if you have a dyslexic student and you hire a local Orton-Gillingham certified tutor to help your young child learn to read and spell, and that tutor is a professing Christian, this lawsuit alleges that the state constitution forbids this.
In many cases homeschool families choose to pay for services from religious providers or organizations. It is no surprise that religious institutions retain the upper hand on quality education: they continue the Western Classical Liberal Tradition. It works because it’s been around for 2,000 years. It is not an experiment. In no cases do ANY of the homeschool correspondence school programs refund religious instruction or compensate directly for tuition to a private school.
The question I would ask the court is this: how is it any different for a mother of a young child to tap an educational resource to teach that kid to read or do basic arithmetic, than for a mother of an older child to tap the local college to get their math-savant 10th grader Calculus 2 courses? And why is the professed religion of the provider at issue, when the content is secular?
The left is afraid of there-our money going to good over there evil..
You may have benefited from an orton-gillingham tutor to help you remember the differences between “their,” “there,” and “they’re.” Maybe the comment threads in Alaska’s public forums will produce compelling reasons for the courts to consider the potential benefits of private/parochial institutions in education… no?
It makes me happy knowing you’re perfect congratulations
I see you too need the services of an Orton-Gillingham tutor to help you learn correct capitalization. Thank you for your contribution to a compelling reason for the courts to consider the potential benefits of acquiring education for those who need specialized instruction.
Haha, so the judge says we need to examine if using public funds for homeschooling is legal in Alaska. Who knew? I mean, its only like, the cornerstone of parental rights and all. But seriously, lets just give the homeschoolers a pass. Why split hairs over whether using state money for math tutoring from a Christian organization is forbidden or not? Its like getting mad at someone using their Permanent Fund Dividend for private school services. Lets just let families choose how to spend the money, regardless of the providers faith. After all, education isnt an experiment, and its not like anyone is paying for religious instruction directly. Who cares if the provider is Christian as long as the kid learns algebra? Lets keep the money flowing and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.đồng hồ bấm giờ đếm ngược
Thank you for your good thoughts. You are right on.
Religion is poison. Keep it out of schools that have a dime of government funding.
Marxism is poison. Jesus saves.
Manny, Manny, Manny, personal opinons don’t count for anything. Opinons are like a stinker, keep it to yourself.
keep the religion of secular humanism out of our schools.
The Alaska constitution specifies public funds for public uses; how do we bring suit against the nea because their dues are not all used for public uses
A liberal judge….. imagine our shock