CHARLESTON — With oral arguments before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals set for Tuesday, Oct. 4, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey file his opening brief in the challenge to a permanent injunction blocking the state’s new Hope Scholarship program.

In a press release Wednesday, Morrisey said his office filed its opening brief with the state Supreme Court in a case brought by parents in January challenging the constitutionality of the Hope Scholarship, providing the document to reporters.

The Intermediate Court of Appeals denied a motion last month to stay a ruling by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit in July that granted a temporary and permanent injunction preventing further implementation of the Hope Scholarship program, calling the law “null and void.”

“The decision by a Kanawha Circuit Court judge is flawed in many ways and only does one thing: render harm to the thousands of families set to receive funds from the Act,” Morrisey said in a statement. “This is about the rights of those parents to choose the best possible education for their children, and the Act is a vehicle to make that happen.”

The state Supreme Court issued an order Aug. 18 expediting the case, setting deadlines for scheduled briefs from the plaintiffs and defendants throughout September and oral arguments scheduled in October. However, three out of five of the high court’s justices declined to issue a stay of the circuit court ruling blocking the Hope Scholarship from being implemented.

The Hope Scholarship — called an educational savings account by supporters and a voucher program by opponents — gives parents the option to use $4,600 of their per-pupil expenditure from the state School Aid Formula for educational expenses, such as private-school tuition, home tutoring, learning aids and other acceptable expenses. The program is limited to students in the public school system, but opens up to all public, private, and home school students in 2026.

The State Treasurer’s Office is charged with managing the Hope Scholarship program. The program was slated to start this school year, with more than 3,146 Hope Scholarship applications awarded since the May 15 deadline at a cost of about $14.5 million.

Putnam County parent Travis Beaver, Upshur County parent Karen Kalar and Raleigh County teacher Wendy Peters filed suit last January against state Treasurer Riley Moore, former State Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch, former state Board of Education President Miller Hall, Senate President Craig Blair, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and Gov. Jim Justice.

Opponents believe the program violates the state Constitution’s requirement for the Legislature to provide “a thorough and efficient system of free schools.” In their brief, the Attorney General’s Office said the Hope Scholarship does not take public funding away from public schools.

“Nothing about this initiative should have created constitutional concern,” wrote Lindsay See, the solicitor general for the Attorney General’s Office. “The Act did not purport to touch our State’s public schools. It did not draw a cent from the School Fund or take anything from appropriations reserved for public education. It did not modify the Board of Education’s traditional authority. It did introduce more flexibility, further empowering parents to select a nonpublic education should they choose.”

The brief asks the Supreme Court to throw out the permanent injunction of the Hope Scholarship and asks the justices to order the case back to circuit court for dismissal. See argued that Tabit went too far in her July ruling.

“The circuit court … straightjacketed the Legislature on educational matters, barring it from spending state funds on any educational initiative beyond traditional public schools,” See wrote. “These problems in the circuit court’s decision require reversal.

“Adding words to several constitutional provisions was wrong. Racing to find fault with the law based on policy disagreements was wrong. And enjoining the entire Act on the doorstep of a new school year was wrong,” See continued. “The Court should thus reverse and set things right. Parents and children deserve the chance to enjoy the opportunities the Hope Scholarship Act offers.”