The Wisconsin supreme court declined to take up a landmark lawsuit challenging the state’s private school-choice programs, potentially opening the door for the case to play out in a lower court.
Last month, the state supreme court requested amicus briefs from both parties explaining why the litigation should or should not move forward. Wisconsin’s seven justices ultimately rejected the case without comment in an unsigned order issued Wednesday. The decision forces the plaintiffs to refile in a county circuit court.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which would play a role in defending the school-choice program if a lower court accepts the case, applauded the Wisconsin supreme court’s decision.
“Wisconsin’s parental choice programs have been instrumental in providing educational freedom and better academic outcomes to thousands of Wisconsin families,” WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said in a statement. “The now-denied petition filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court was plagued with misleading, misinformed, and nonsensical legal arguments. The unanimous Court was right to reject the case.”
“If choice opponents try again, WILL stands ready to defend these critical programs for Wisconsin children and their families,” Esenberg added.
WILL filed its amicus brief to the state supreme court on November 13, according to the statement. A motion to intervene in the case was also filed on behalf of 22 clients, including several parents of students who attend choice and charter schools.
Esenberg told National Review that the original action, which refers to any case being taken directly to a state supreme court or the U.S. Supreme Court, didn’t have strong merit for it to be considered at the highest level. “It would be horrible public power and create horrible public policy through the state and would cause all sorts of other problems” that would dramatically affect school finance, he said.
A progressive interest group initially filed the lawsuit with the Wisconsin supreme court in mid October, claiming the laws that fund the state’s school-choice and voucher programs are unconstitutional and siphon money from public-school districts. The seven plaintiffs represent concerned citizens, parents, and taxpayers living in Wisconsin.
The Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, which is backing the legal effort, alleges the Milwaukee, Racine, and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs, Special Needs Scholarship Program, and Independent Charter School Program are all defunding public schools by diverting local and state funds toward private use. Those actions and the legislatively created revenue limit, which caps the amount of funding that school districts can raise from property taxes to pay for public education, are claimed to be in violation of the Wisconsin constitution’s public-purpose requirement and uniform taxation clause.
Democratic activist Kirk Bangstad, who runs and funds the super PAC, did not respond to a request for comment. He did, however, post the email seeking comment to his brewery’s Facebook page alongside a graphic mocking National Review.