Judge grants ‘limited stay’ after ruling that upends Alaska’s homeschool assignment program

In an effort to mitigate the damaging financial impact his ruling would have on thousands of Alaska homeschooling families who rely on the state’s correspondence assignment program to educate their children, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman issued a limited stay on his advice of April 12, which actually delayed him. the effective date runs until the end of the current financial year, June 30.

The reprieve, which was issued on May 2, allows school districts to operate under the status quo and complete the current academic year, allowing them to reimburse families for costs incurred for private and religious organizations and educational institutions.

Ultimately, however, Judge Zeman’s ruling sent shockwaves through Alaska’s homeschool and private education communities by claiming that the state’s practice of reimbursing parents for these costs violates the Alaska Constitution, which states: “There no money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”

Dunleavy indicated he would veto pending bills in the state Legislature until the matter is resolved in court.

The state strongly disagrees with Zeman’s interpretation of homeschool laws and plans to appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

In a rare move, prosecutors joined the state in asking Judge Zeman to approve a stay of his ruling, which will affect about 24,000 students who have dropped out of standard government-run schools.

The state had requested a longer stay, which would have given the Alaska Supreme Court a chance to have the final say before correspondence assignment programs are upended and the education of thousands of Alaska students is irreparably disrupted.

Zeman rejected this request, rejecting the state’s claim that if his ruling is implemented before the Supreme Court takes up the matter, correspondence programs will suddenly disappear and thousands of students will have to change their plans for the coming academic year. Additionally, the judge rejected the state’s concern that “wrongfully removing that education option — even temporarily — will cause irreparable harm to both the state’s education system and the children within it.”

Zeman’s May 2 ruling states that correspondence education can continue as it was a decade ago, before Alaska began allowing families to use their annual allotment for private and religious institution expenses.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor disagree. Last month, Dunleavy said Zeman’s ruling calls into question any education spending for goods, services or education from private or religious sources, including textbook companies, private contractors, food vendors and more.

Zeman claims the state “mischaracterized” his ruling, which he said should be interpreted only as the abolition of the financial allocation program, and not as state correspondence education in general.

Dunleavy said he wants to wait until the Alaska Supreme Court makes a final ruling on the case before deciding how to respond, which could include appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court and issuing “educational dividends” that will benefit families next year can make use of. to help offset the costs of homeschooling and private education options.

In addition, Dunleavy indicated he would veto pending bills in the state legislature until the matter is resolved in court. Currently, lawmakers are considering legislation that attempts to address Judge Zeman’s legal opinion, but these legislative solutions severely limit how parents can use homeschool allocations and would prohibit the carryover of unused allocation funds to the following year.

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