Cho Hee-yeon Withdraws Appeal for Autonomous Private High Schools... Considering Possibility of Defeat and Third-Term Candidacy (Comprehensive)

Busan Haeundaego Loses Second Trial, Appeals Withdrawn
Busan and Gyeonggi Provinces Likely to Follow Same Procedure During Ongoing Lawsuits
Political Burden Eased Ahead of Superintendent's Third-Term Candidacy
Separate from This Lawsuit, Autonomous Private High School to Convert to General High School in 2025

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is holding a press conference on the 1st anniversary of his second term on the 27th at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, has ultimately surrendered in the lawsuit against autonomous private high schools (Jasago). This decision was made based on the high possibility of losing the second trial and the fact that the schools are scheduled to be converted into general high schools, making it unnecessary to forcefully proceed.

On the 27th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it would end the legal dispute and proceed with the withdrawal of appeals against the seven schools (Kyunghee High School, Paichai High School, Sehwa High School, Shinil High School, Ewha Girls' High School, Joongang High School, Handae High School) that were designated for cancellation based on the 2019 autonomous private high school performance evaluation results.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "This is to end the lawsuit whose significance has diminished due to the scheduled blanket conversion of autonomous private high schools to general high schools in 2025, and to more faithfully respond to the historical demand for a new high school system reform following the full implementation of the high school credit system in 2025."

On the same day, the Autonomous Private High School Principals' Association stated, "Although the withdrawal of the appeal and the formation of a consultative body may seem somewhat delayed, we agree and actively welcome it," adding, "The autonomous private high schools in Seoul involved in the lawsuit will end legal conflicts with the education office, cease the confusion and administrative resource consumption caused by the lawsuit, and do their best to operate the schools according to their founding purposes."

The low possibility of winning the second trial was also a decisive factor in withdrawing the appeal. The second trial rulings for Kyunghee High School and Handae High School were scheduled for February 3, and for Paichai High School and Sehwa High School on February 10. On the 12th, in the second trial lawsuit of Busan Haeundae High School, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education lost.

After losing all lawsuits filed by autonomous private high schools against designation cancellations in August last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education appealed but reversed its position after five months. At that time, the autonomous private high schools requested the withdrawal of the appeal, citing difficulties due to a decrease in new students and financial deterioration.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "The appeal was made to clarify the differences in views between the court and the education office regarding the predictability, seriousness, and the scope of the superintendent's discretion in the partially revised 2019 autonomous private high school evaluation criteria, and to receive the court's judgment once again on the legality and legitimacy of the designation cancellation."

Previously, the court ruled in favor of autonomous private high schools that filed lawsuits, including Busan Haeundae High School and Ansan Dongsan High School. The common judgment was that notifying new evaluation criteria just before the evaluation, despite changes in the autonomous private high school designation evaluation standards, constituted an abuse of discretion by the education office.

In Seoul, the 2019 autonomous private high school evaluation criteria were raised from 60 points to 70 points, with expanded deduction items (audit findings), and strengthened indicators such as social integration admission rates and job training hours. The autonomous private high schools opposed this, arguing that the criteria were disadvantageously changed just before the evaluation.

Following the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's decision to withdraw the appeal, it is expected that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will follow a similar path. With the autonomous private high schools winning, the Ministry of Education and progressive education circles, which have pursued policies to abolish autonomous private high schools, are now left to bear the full burden.

The Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations stated, "The education offices and the Ministry of Education must apologize for the lawsuit fiasco and take responsibility; withdrawal of the lawsuit is not a free pass. They must clearly apologize and take responsibility for the illegal and unfair evaluations," adding, "Other metropolitan and provincial education offices should also stop forced appeals, and the Ministry of Education must clarify its stance on this matter. The government must immediately withdraw and abolish the enforcement decree for the blanket abolition of autonomous private high schools and foreign language high schools in 2025."

Autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools will be converted into general high schools starting in 2025. The Ministry of Education is revising the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to delete provisions on autonomous private and autonomous public high schools, effective from March 2025. Accordingly, 24 schools including autonomous private and international high schools have filed constitutional complaints against the government's amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which stipulates the abolition of autonomous private high schools.

After withdrawing the appeal, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to form a consultative body with autonomous private high school principals to discuss current issues related to autonomous private high school policies.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "Taking this appeal withdrawal as an opportunity, we will focus more on promoting the blanket conversion of autonomous private, foreign language, and international high schools to general high schools in 2025 following the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and on establishing a new high school system in line with the full implementation of the high school credit system."

The Autonomous Private High School Principals' Association said, "Although there have been no specific discussions on the composition, timing, agenda, or matters of consultation regarding the formation and operation of the consultative body, we hope it will be a consultative body for the stable operation of Seoul's autonomous private high schools rather than a proposal for a change of phase."

Oh Se-mok, representative of the Autonomous Private High School Community Association, said, "I hope the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's conciliatory gesture is not a political maneuver, and since they have decided to form a consultative body, we will watch closely to see if they approach it with sincerity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.