Strike Two for State Overreach: Alaska Supreme Court Slams Door on DEED & Pearl Creek
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District deserves a big round of applause for successfully defending local control against a coordinated pressure campaign from state officials.
Today, the State of Alaska and the Pearl Creek STEAM Charter Academic Policy Committee received yet another legal reality check. The Alaska Supreme Court issued an order today denying their Petition for Review - even after Acting AG Cory Mills bizarrely intervened in the case. ⬇
This latest defeat follows an established pattern of failed intimidation tactics. DEED Commissioner Deena Bishop has threatened to withhold state funding from the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. Bishop demanded that the district immediately open the charter school and hand over a lease for a building the district no longer even controls.
Superintendent Dr. Luke Meinert sent a formal response to Commissioner Bishop on June 18, making it completely clear that the district will not be bullied by DEED Commissioner Bishop's illegal demands.
School Board President Bobby Burgess suggested Bishop's move was a blatant attempt to intimidate local officials just ahead of a June 17 Superior Court hearing before Judge Kirk Schwalm. Schwalm ultimately denied the charter committee's motion for a preliminary injunction. The judge ruled the entitled charter cult failed to prove any irreparable harm, stating that all students still maintain full access to public education.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District deserves a big round of applause for successfully defending (for now) local control against a coordinated partisan, political pressure campaign from state officials, including Alaska Acting AG Cory Mills, who seems not to know...stuff.
