ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Reimbursements made to parents for education-related expenses for students in Alaska correspondence schools are unconstitutional, a state court judge has ruled, adding a new twist to a debate over education that lawmakers say may not be quickly resolved.
The decision Friday by Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman came in a case filed last year that challenged a state law that allowed correspondence student allotments to be used to “purchase nonsectarian services and materials from a public, private, or religious organization.”
Under state law, over the past decade, families with kids in correspondence schools have been allowed to receive thousands of dollars a year in reimbursements, paid with public money, for education-related expenses, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The provisions that were ruled unconstitutional came from a bill that became law in 2014 from former Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who is now governor. The Republican also had introduced a companion constitutional amendment that would have removed limits on the use of public funds for religious or private education institutions but that went nowhere.
Ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse has been refloated
Woman in Minnesota accused in the deaths of 2 children
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 12
DR MAX PEMBERTON: We need more female doctors in the NHS... but there is a downside
Trump accepts a VP debate but wants it on Fox News. Harris has already said yes to CBS
Leak from Indiana fertilizer tank results in 10
Here's where Biden and Trump stand on 10 key issues
Spurs' Victor Wembanyama named NBA Rookie of the Year
Six killed in a 'foiled coup' in Congo, the army says
John Swinney is crowned as SNP leader
Mohammad Mokhber: Who is Iran’s acting president?
Lidia Bastianich, Melody Thomas Scott and Ed Scott to receive Daytime Emmys lifetime achievement