Seoul Education Office Without Cho Heeyeon Decides Not to Appeal Whimoon High School Autonomous Private High School Cancellation

"New Regulation Maintains Autonomous Private High Schools, Ending Legal Dispute"
Appeal Previously Planned, Now Withdrawn
'Abolition of Autonomous Private High Schools' Becomes History

With the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education currently without a superintendent, the office has decided not to continue the legal battle over autonomous private high schools (Jasa-go) that was previously pursued by former superintendent Cho Hee-yeon. On October 16, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it would not file an appeal regarding the cancellation of the autonomous private high school designation for Whimoon High School in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. As a result, the policy of abolishing autonomous private high schools-also a hallmark of the Moon Jae-in administration-will now become a thing of the past.

On the same day, Lee Jongseon, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, issued a statement saying, "We prioritized educational values such as the stable operation of schools and the guarantee of students' right to choose their schools." Spokesperson Lee added, "Following the decision to maintain the status of autonomous private high schools, we believe that improving the administrative foundation for their operation and management should come first." He also called on the government to revise relevant laws and regulations, to include strengthened transparency criteria in the detailed evaluation indicators for autonomous private high schools, and to increase the weighting of those criteria.

According to materials obtained by Democratic Party lawmaker Ko Minjung's office from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the office recently requested the Ministry of Justice to forgo an appeal. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "Unlike the first trial ruling, new regulations have been established to maintain autonomous private high schools. Therefore, we have decided to end the legal dispute through an appeal and to prioritize the constitutional rights of students to choose their schools and to learn."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Previously, on September 25, Whimoon High School, which had lost its autonomous private high school status due to accounting fraud, won its appeal and was able to retain its status, overturning the initial court decision. At the time, the court ruled, "The provision in the enforcement ordinance used as the basis for the cancellation of the autonomous private high school designation exceeds the limits of delegated legislation."

The abolition of autonomous private high schools and foreign language high schools was also a policy initiative of former superintendent Cho. The Moon Jae-in administration revised the enforcement ordinance of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to convert all autonomous private and foreign language high schools into general high schools starting from the 2025 academic year, when the high school credit system would be fully implemented. However, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration later passed another amendment to remove this provision. During this process, former superintendent Cho engaged in legal battles with seven schools that failed the re-designation evaluation for autonomous private high schools. Of these, he withdrew appeals in lawsuits regarding the cancellation of designation for all seven autonomous private high schools.

The decision by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education appears to be related to the absence of former superintendent Cho, who was removed from office. Acting superintendent Seol Sehun, who is currently serving as deputy superintendent, had previously stated in a press release following the appellate court's ruling on Whimoon High School that "the Office of Education is expected to face difficulties in supervising and ensuring financial transparency in private schools and in preventing corrupt practices in private educational institutions." He had indicated plans to file an appeal, but this has now been withdrawn. The next superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will be decided through a by-election held today.