Overview
- The high court upheld a circuit judge's refusal to dismiss the challenge to the Educational Freedom Account program.
- Justice Shawn Womack wrote that sovereign immunity does not bar illegal-exaction claims alleging unlawful public spending.
- In a separate ruling, Justice Barbara Webb allowed three mothers of EFA recipients to intervene based on a direct economic stake.
- Chief Justice Karen Baker dissented in both cases, invoking the Andrews precedent to argue the suit should be barred.
- The case returns to Pulaski County Circuit Court as the $327 million program serving 46,699 students continues, with Attorney General Tim Griffin pledging a vigorous defense.