RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he won’t appeal a judge’s ruling that overturned a law allowing the state to take over chronically failing schools.

McAuliffe says in a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1nalvuU ) that the law altered the relationships between the state and local school boards in significant and unconstitutional ways.

The law created the Opportunity Educational Institution. The institution was slated to take control of six schools that were denied state accreditation in Norfolk, Petersburg and Alexandria.

A circuit judge in Norfolk ruled June 10 that the law is unconstitutional. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Virginia School Boards Association and the Norfolk School Board that challenged the institution’s creation.

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com

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