Attorney General Morrisey files appeal from Injunction against Hope Scholarship Act

CHARLESTON (WVDN) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Tuesday filed an appeal with the state’s Intermediate Court of Appeals, asking the court to overturn the preliminary and permanent injunction issued against the Hope Scholarship Act.

“We are continuing to fight for the Hope Scholarship Act, an important law that gives parents the right to choose the education they see fit for their children,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We know this law is constitutional. So, we urge the court to act because thousands of families who were supposed to receive educational funding for their children remain in limbo—with the school year just around the corner.”

The Legislature passed and the Governor signed the Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other extracurricular activities.

Recently, a Kanawha County Circuit Court judge enjoined the state from implementing the program, finding, among other things, it violates a provision of the state Constitution that requires the state to provide a thorough and efficient system of free public schools.

The Attorney General wrote in the appeal “the injunction will irreparably injure the public, including more than 3,000 students already approved for scholarships. With just over a month until school starts, the blessing of the Hope Scholarship these students’ families planned around has been ‘pulled out from under’ them.”