By Steven Allen Adams, The Journal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than a month after a majority of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ended an injunction against the Hope Scholarship educational savings account and voucher program, justices on opposite sides of the question published their reasoning.
In a 3-2 decision Oct. 6, the Supreme Court sided with the state and Hope Scholarship families after they filed an appeal of the Kanawha County Circuit Court ruling in July that placed a preliminary and permanent injunction on the program.
Justice Tim Armstead delivered the majority opinion of the court, while Chief Justice John Hutchison wrote a dissent to the majority’s decision.
Armstead said the state constitutional provision that states, “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools,” does not prohibit lawmakers from providing other educational opportunities or services, such as allowing parents to use a portion of state per-pupil expenditures for educational services outside the public school system…
