Scholarship program delayed but not gone yetMONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Lawyers for the state and lawyers for parents have asked a judge to stay his order blocking the Alabama Accountability Act. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Gene Reese on Wednesday ruled the school choice law unconstitutional and issued an injunction that would keep families from taking advantage of the tax credits and scholarships offered under the law after this year. The injunction will cause irreparable injury if a stay is not granted, according to the motion filed by lawyers for Revenue Commissioner Julie Magee and State Comptroller Thomas White, who are defendants in their official capacities in the case, and lawyers for three parents who intervened in the case. The parents have received tax credits allowed under the law to transfer their children from public schools designated as failing, the motion says. The same is true for scores of other Alabama parents who have used the Acts tax credits or who have relied on the Acts scholarship program, the motion says. Absent a stay, the injunction will upend the ability of these families to plan for the 2014-2015 school year. And it may well leave them with no choice but to return their children to their previous, failing schools. Read the motion to stay.pdf A stay would mean that the accountability act could continue to be operative while an appeal is pending. Bert Gall, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which is representing the parents in the case, said the biggest concern is the uncertainty the ruling causes for parents who are making plans for next school year. It needs to be lifted soon because before you know it, we will be on top of the coming school year, Gall said. Gall said that if Reese does not grant the stay, the next step would be to ask the state Supreme Court for a stay. Bobby Segall, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in the case, said he expected they would file a response to the stay motion. The plaintiffs, who filed the suit in August 2013, are state Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, Anita Gibson, president of the Alabama Education Association, and Daniel Boyd, superintendent of the Lowndes County school system. Two previous lawsuits filed against the act have been unsuccessful. The request for the stay says the injunction would cause untold administrative burdens for the state should the ruling ultimately be overturned. And defendants said the stay would serve the public interest. The motion says the defendants and intervenors have a strong chance of success of overturning Reeses ruling on appeal. They say Reeses ruling is wrong on legal grounds. Reese ruled the process legislators used in passing the law in February 2013 violated the state Constitution. The bill that became the law was originally a bill to give school systems flexibility on state policies. After the flexibility bill passed both houses, a conference committee added two new sections. One allowed state income tax credits for parents who transfer their children from failing public schools. The other set up a scholarship program to help pay private school tuitions, with the scholarships funded by donations from taxpayers who then receive a tax credit. After those surprise additions to a bill that had been debated for weeks, the House and Senate quickly approved the newly dubbed Alabama Accountability Act that night. Reese ruled that process violated several constitutional requirements that bills: --- With certain exceptions, address a single subject. --- Not be amended to change their original purpose. --- Are read three times in both houses of the Legislature. Reeses ruling said the law violated constitutional restrictions on public funds going to private schools and charitable organizations (the scholarship granting organizations). Such use of public funding requires a vote of two-thirds of members of both houses, he wrote. Reese ruled that the law violated a constitutional requirement that income tax revenue deposited into the Education Trust Fund be used only for public school teacher salaries. And he ruled that it violated a constitutional restriction on creating new debt for the state without a corresponding new source of revenue. That referred to the obligation to pay the income tax credits to parents. The defendants, in their motion for the stay, said the state Supreme Court has said that the Legislatures annual codification process cures any alleged infirmities of legislative procedure, and that the accountability act was codified this year. Related: State Rep. Chad Fincher, R-Semmes, who sponsored the bill, says ruling against it is a political stunt This story was updated at 3:52 p.m. with new information beginning in the eighth paragraph. Updated at 5:09 p.m. to add information from lawyers Bert Gall and Bobby Segall.o
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 12:20:05 +0000
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