A 2012 initiative, backed by Bill Gates, Walmart heiress Alice Walton and a few other wealthy individuals, allowed for the formation of charter schools to be funded as though they were public schools. But the 6-3 court ruling (pdf), released late Friday, noted that they’re not considered “common schools,” since their ruling boards are appointed, not elected. Therefore, “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools,” Washington Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote.

“The Supreme Court has affirmed what we’ve said all along—charter schools steal money from our existing classrooms, and voters have no say in how these charter schools spend taxpayer funding,” Kim Mead, president of the Washington Education Association, said according to the Seattle Times. The Washington Education Association, along with the League of Women Voters, El Centro de la Raza and the Washington Association of School Administrators, brought the suit.